New Delhi: Opposition JD-U Monday attacked the Government in Rajya Sabha over the auction of memorabilia associated with Mahatma Gandhi in London dubbing it as a matter of "national shame" and demanded bringing it back immediately.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Shivanand Tiwari said the government could nothing to bring back the memorabilia to India even even as 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.
Members from BJP associated with the demand.
PTI
