Gandhi's signed letter to British lord up for auction

A signed letter, penned by Mahatma Gandhi a year before India's independence, thanking a British lord for wishes on his birthday is expected to fetch over USD 20,000 at an online auction.

Signed 'M K Gandhi', the one-page letter to Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Secretary of State for India and Burma, was written from New Delhi on October 10, 1946.

"Dear friend, It was good of you to send me your wishes for my birthday which is synonymous with the rebirth of the spinning wheel in 1918," the letter reads.

Gandhi's reference to the spinning wheel is exceptionally important, as he had adopted it as a symbol of economic independence very early on in his movement, US-based RR Auction said in a statement.

Shortly after World War I, he developed a broad base of support from Indians for peaceful non-cooperation.

After December 1921, Gandhi expanded his nonviolence programme to include the swadeshi policy -- the boycott of British goods.

From this originated his spinning wheel, as he encouraged all Indians to wear khaki instead of British-made textiles.

He furthered this concept by exhorting Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement.

Thus the spinning wheel became symbolic of the movement toward Indian independence.

While Lord Pethwick-Lawrence was involved with the negotiations that led to India's freedom, it was Prime Minister Clement Atlee who made the government's principal decisions in the matter.

The bidding for the online auction ends on December 5.

(With inputs from agencies.)