Brit-Indian industrialists hand over Gandhi memorabilia to President Patil

London, Oct.28 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil was given Mahatma Gandhi's memorabilia here on Wednesday in a ceremony held at India House (Indian High Commission) by two Indian-origin industrialists Ghulam Noon and Nathu Ram Puri.

President Patil, speaking on this occasion, thanked both the industrialists for "procuring Gandhiji's papers as well as other items which have been gifted to India this time and on earlier occasions also as they are tribute to Gandhi and a symbol of their love and affection for India."

The memorabilia includes a series of letters written by Gandhi and a piece of signed cloth sold by Sotheby's on July 14, 2009 for 17,500 pounds.

The items comprised three signed letters by Gandhi, a signed Khadi cloth that was said to have been worn by Mahatma Gandhi; two signed postcards by Gandhi and a series of letters by Jawaharlal Nehru to freedom fighter Mridula Sarabhai and to Maulana Abdul Bari, an Islamic scholar and a leading figure in the Khilafat movement. The letters to Bari were written in Urdu.

"It was my conviction that this letter should not go in the hands of anyone else but ...the hands of Govt. of India. We were just a atalyst instrument in buying these letters and handing it over to the Govt. of India like we have done previously some years ack," said

President Patil is on a three-day state visit to London as part of her weeklong trip to U.K and Cyprus. By Ravi Khandelwal (ANI)