All men are perhaps jealous of Vijay Mallya , the liquor baron. Kingfisher callenders , IPL team and those rave parties and so on , do I need to cite any more reasons ? But this time we saw a different aspect of Vijay Mallya , who acquired Mahatma Gandhi’s memorabilia with a $1.8 million bid at the auction by Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York. Gandhi’s steel-rimmed spectacles, a pair of sandals, a Zenith pocket watch, an eating bowl and a plate were put under the hammer despite an outcry by Indians, mounting Indian government pressure and even a reported change of heart on the part of the US-based collector to auction the items.
But the owner of the United Breweries Group, Kingfisher Airlines and a cricket league team, who was among 40 registered bidders including several Indian Americans, was ready and went up to a whopping $1.8 million to clinch the deal.
Mallya said he wished the Mahatma’s articles are displayed in a museum either in Bangalore or Mysore. “I am a proud Indian. This will be my gift to the government of India. There is a sense of pride that nobody can take away. I am looking forward to seeing what I have got.” Incidentally ,Mallya also bought Tipu Sultan’s sword from a London auction house in 2004.

Thank you Mallya. We are proud of you.

Now the question is , should we allow such type of auctions to take place in future playing with the sentiments of nations ?  Can we bring an international consensus that any items of national significance or pride ( for example, personal belongings of Gandhi ,Netaji,Tagore and so on from India or Jinnah from Pakistan ) are treated as national treasures of great historical values and any form of auction of such  items would be punishable offence .