An auction house Thursday sold Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi's iconic round glasses and other memorabilia for $1.8 million, defying an order to cancel the sale by the items' owner. An Indian businessman bought the items during a highly controversial auction that went ahead shortly after seller James Otis said he had told Antiquorum Auctioneers to “remove the items from today's auction and return them to me.” Auctioneers said there would be a two-week delay in delivering the items to the buyer in order for legal disputes surrounding the sale to be settled. India had bitterly opposed the auction, insisting that Gandhi's glasses, sandals, pocket watch, bowl and plate were part of the country's national heritage. Earlier Thursday, India's government rejected a proposal by the owner of Mohandas Gandhi's eyeglasses and other personal items to halt their upcoming auction in exchange for commitments to fight poverty and promote nonviolence. India's Junior Foreign Minister Anand Sharma said the demands, which included reallocating part of the national budget, infringed on India's sovereignty. In New York, the US owner of Gandhi's iconic round glasses and other items said he has agreed in principal to cancel a controversial auction and donate the belongings to India. James Otis said he had agreed in talks at India's New York consulate to donate the glasses, sandals and other belongings in exchange for India boosting health spending for the poor and using the memorabilia in an international exhibition. “The last I heard is the Indian government agreed to the terms I proposed,” said Otis, a California-based peace activist. “They sent it to Delhi for approval.” The planned auction of items, which belong to Otis, had raised an outcry in India.
