Hazare, Gen V K Singh to receive Gandhi memorabilia at airport

Former Union minister and prominent city businessman Kamal Morarka had acquired 29 items of the Mahatma Gandhi memorabilia at an auction in the UK last year.

"Bapu's memorabilia has arrived from UK and will be received at the Mumbai international airport by Anna Hazare, General (retd) V K Singh and Magsaysay awardee Rajendra Singh tomorrow," sources close to Morarka said.

The memorabilia will be showcased at tour events throughout the country in order to re-introduce Gandhi and Gandhian philosophy to Indian youth, they said.

The memorabilia includes blades of grass and soil pigmented with Mahatma Gandhi's blood, retrieved from Birla House in Delhi, where he was assassinated in 1948. The purchase was done through the Kamal Morarka Foundation for the Arts.

Other items include Mahatma Gandhi's pair of iconic spectacles, the famous wooden 'charkha' (spinning wheel) which he used, a prayer book signed by him, several letters and other documents pertaining to his life.

"The purchase is not a commercial decision but an emotional one," Morarka had said after the auction.

"We don't intend to re-sell such objects, but to bring them back to India and share them with our people. These are important heritage artifacts that have eluded us for long after being kept in private hands outside India," he had said.