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Mohandas Gandhi

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Mohandas Gandhi

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Auction Date:2014 Nov 12 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Rare handwritten notes in English, unsigned, one page, 4.25 x 6.75, March 24, 1946. Gandhi’s notes penned on the reverse of a letter sent to him. In part: “We are soldiers but are all lovers of Indian freedom. B. I am glad to hear that. For so far you have been instrumental in the suppression of that freedom. What did they do in Jallianwala Bagh? Do you know the meaning? Have you been there? S. Oh, yes, but those days are past. Those people were water frozen in the well. We have seen the world. Our eyes are opened. G. I know this. That is how it should be. S. What would be our future when we fear Indian freedom?” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, scattered creases, a few light stains, and tack holes to upper left corner.

On March 24, 1946, a group of three British cabinet ministers arrived in New Delhi to negotiate a plan for the transition of power that would finally lead to Indian independence. These amazing handwritten notes from the same day seem to be Gandhi's own transcription of a conversation—one that he either took part in, overheard, or imagined—between Indians who had long struggled for freedom and soldiers of the British Raj. The most important part of the piece is the opening exchange, in which the soldiers say they are now "lovers of Indian freedom," to which an Indian responds by reminding them that British soldiers were responsible for decades of oppression, bringing up "Jallianwala Bagh"—a 1919 massacre of nonviolent protesters by the British Army. This massacre sparked the Non-Cooperation Movement, the first of a series of widespread nonviolent movements led by Gandhi. Under Gandhi's leadership, these peaceful campaigns were instrumental in winning Indian independence. Gandhi met with the cabinet ministers a few days after writing these lines, and after weeks of negotiation the officials came to an agreement under which power would be transferred from Great Britain to an Indian coalition government—the culmination of Gandhi's lifetime of work. An absolutely outstanding piece with fascinating content from a historically important date in Indian history.