LONDON: British auction house Christie's has agreed to withdraw from auction a letter written by Mahatma Gandhi shortly before his death, and return it to the Indian government, it said in a statement.

The Indian government had been planning to bid for the rare letter, written 19 days before Gandhi was shot dead on Jan 30, 1948 by a Hindu fanatic who opposed his tolerance towards Muslims.

But Christie's said the executors of Albin Schram, a Switzerland-based collector, had agreed to withdraw the Gandhi manuscript from Tuesday's auction in order that it may be acquired by the Indian government.

“We are pleased to have facilitated the negotiations which have resulted in an important historical record returning to India,” said Amin Jaffer, International Director of Asian Art at Christie's.

The Indian culture ministry had asked the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which has the bulk of Gandhi's writings, to bid for the letter to be auctioned by Christie's in London, the Press Trust of India reported last week.

In the letter the freedom movement leader pleaded for religious harmony in newly independent India. “It is wrong to ruffle Muslim or any other person's feelings...” Gandhi said in the seven-page letter.—AFP