JD-U slams govt for auction of Gandhiji's memorabilia

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Shivanand Tiwari said the government could do nothing to bring back the memorabilia to India though noted Gandhian writer and Padmashri Giriraj Kishore had written to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop the auction long before.

"It's a matter of national shame that that the soil soaked with Gandhiji's blood was auctioned and the government could do nothing," Tiwari said, adding this happened even as the government belonged to a party, which frequently invoked Mahatma Gandhi's name.

He said a distressed Kishore has decided to return his Padmashri award to the government.

"I demand from the government to immediately be active on the issue and take efforts to bring back the auctioned memorabilia," Tiwari said.

A pinch of soil and blood-stained blades of grass from the place where Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 were among the memorabilia that were auctioned.