"You should know your problem has become more difficult for me than even our national freedom," Gandhi wrote
By Nita Bhalla
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Three letters highlighting India's iconic freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi’s concerns his estranged son had raped his daughter will be auctioned in Britain later this month, the Indian Express reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Shropshire-based Mullock’s auctioneers expect to fetch at least 50,000 pounds ($84,000) for the set of letters written by Gandhi to his son, Harilal, in June 1935.
"You should know your problem has become more difficult for me than even our national freedom," Gandhi is quoted as writing in one of the letters to Harilal, who was 47-years-old at the time.
"Manu is telling me a number of dangerous things about you. She says you raped her before she turned eight and she was so hurt that medical treatment had to be taken," the letter reads, in reference to Harilal’s daughter Manu who had come to stay at Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, where Gandhi was then residing.
Harilal had wanted to go to England to study to become a barrister like his father, who had firmly opposed this, said the report. This led to Harilal renouncing all family ties in 1911.
"Please tell me the whole truth. Please tell me if still you are interested in alcohol and debauchery. I wish you’d rather die than resort to consuming alcohol," Gandhi had written in another one of the letters.
Often referred to as the Father of the Nation, Gandhi pioneered the philosophy of non-violent resistance during the British occupation of India, leading the country's Independence in 1947. He was assassinated the following year by a Hindu radical.
Mullock's auctioneers said the letters, written in Gujarati, are in good condition and came to them "via descent for a branch of Gandhi's family to the present vendor."
The series of letters is part of Mullock’s Historical Documents Sale which is to be held on May 22, the report added.
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