TIMES OF INDIA, INDIA WEST, DNA (India), REUTERS
LONDON – Two drops of Gandhi’s blood are being auctioned Tuesday in London. The two microscope slides are expected to be sold for between £10,000 and £15,000 ($15,200-$22,800), Reuters reports.
The “fragments of Gandhi’s blood” were donated by the father of the Indian Independence movement in 1924. At the time, Gandhi was recovering from an appendectomy and gave his blood as a gift to the family he was staying with, writes the Times of India.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, a historical documents expert at the Mullock’s auctioning house, told Reuters that “to Gandhi devotees, it has the same status as a sacred relic to a Christian.”
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The auction has raised strong criticism among disciples of Mahatma Gandhi. Noted Gandhian Giriraj Kishore told India-West he was “enraged” about the upcoming auction. “Gandhi is being sold bit-by-bit on the chopping block every three to four months. It is very objectionable to me.”
The blood slides will be go under the hammer along with 50 other objects belonging to Gandhi: among them, his trademark leather sandals, his favourite shawl, made from linen thread he wove himself, his bed sheet, his personal bowl with fork and spoon, and a drinking cup, says the Times of India.
Meanwhile, during the same sale, items belonging to Adolf Hitler — including a 1943 Christmas card and a chunk of marble from his bunker — will also be put up for auction, DNA reports.
