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Autograph letter signed (“Bapu”), to Anand T. Hingorani, concerning Amtul Salaam’s mission to prevent communal killings in Sindh. Maganwadi, Wardha, 6 November 1940

Autograph letter in English, written in black ink on printed All India Congress Committee letterhead; one leaf, written on the recto and verso; signed at the conclusion “Bapu”; with Anand T. Hingorani’s annotated archival envelope identifying the date, language, writing medium, and archival reference.

Gandhi informs Anand Hingorani that Amtul Salaam is proceeding to Sindh prepared to risk her life in an effort to prevent further killings. He instructs Anand to assist her in every possible way, facilitate her approach to Haji Sir Abdulla Haroon and introduce her to Kikibehn Lalwani.

Transcription
My dear Anand,
Amtul Salaambehn is proceeding to Sind to give her life in preventing the murders that are taking place in Sind. She is to go to some Muslim friend and will appeal to Haji Sir Abdulla Haroon to help her in the attempt. You will help her in every way. Take her to Kikibehn also and do everything you can for her.
Yours,
Bapu

Published in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 79, Letter No. 365, p. 357. The published transcription records the document as surviving from a photostat, reference G.N. 681.

“TO GIVE HER LIFE IN PREVENTING THE MURDERS”

Written on 6 November 1940, this highly significant autograph letter records Mahatma Gandhi’s direct intervention in the communal violence then afflicting Sindh. Addressing his trusted associate Anand T. Hingorani, Gandhi announces that Amtul Salaam is proceeding to the province prepared, in his arresting phrase, “to give her life” in an effort to prevent further murders.

The letter reveals Gandhi’s method of peace-making at its most personal and immediate. Rather than relying exclusively upon official negotiation, public statements, or institutional authority, he mobilised a network of individuals bound by trust, service and moral responsibility. Amtul Salaam was to approach Muslim leaders, appeal to Haji Sir Abdulla Haroon and work through local contacts capable of restoring dialogue. Anand, already established within Gandhi’s Sindh network, was instructed to assist her without reservation and to introduce her to Kikibehn Lalwani.

The document is particularly compelling for the contrast between the gravity of its subject and the intimacy of its form. Gandhi writes entirely in his own hand and closes simply with the familial signature "Bapu". The result is simultaneously a political instruction, a personal appeal, and an expression of extraordinary confidence in both Amtul Salaam and Anand Hingorani.

The letter also captures a defining principle of Gandhian action: the belief that communal harmony could not be restored through retaliation, coercion, or abstract political argument alone but required the physical presence of individuals willing to enter dangerous circumstances without hatred or fear. Amtul Salaam’s readiness to sacrifice herself is presented not as martyrdom for its own sake but as an act of moral witness intended to interrupt the cycle of communal violence.

Preserved with Hingorani’s annotated archival envelope, the letter retains the documentary immediacy of an active working archive. It records the moral and strategic conception of the mission; the following day, Gandhi translated that wider instruction into immediate logistics through the telegram now offered separately as Lot 69 announcing Amtul Salam's arrival in Karachi and directing Anand Hingorani to receive her.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.

Autograph letter signed (“Bapu”), to Anand T. Hingorani, concerning Amtul Salaam’s mission to prevent communal killings in Sindh. Maganwadi, Wardha, 6 November 1940

Autograph letter in English, written in black ink on printed All India Congress Committee letterhead; one leaf, written on the recto and verso; signed at the conclusion “Bapu”; with Anand T. Hingorani’s annotated archival envelope identifying the date, language, writing medium, and archival reference.

Gandhi informs Anand Hingorani that Amtul Salaam is proceeding to Sindh prepared to risk her life in an effort to prevent further killings. He instructs Anand to assist her in every possible way, facilitate her approach to Haji Sir Abdulla Haroon and introduce her to Kikibehn Lalwani.

Transcription
My dear Anand,
Amtul Salaambehn is proceeding to Sind to give her life in preventing the murders that are taking place in Sind. She is to go to some Muslim friend and will appeal to Haji Sir Abdulla Haroon to help her in the attempt. You will help her in every way. Take her to Kikibehn also and do everything you can for her.
Yours,
Bapu

Published in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 79, Letter No. 365, p. 357. The published transcription records the document as surviving from a photostat, reference G.N. 681.

“TO GIVE HER LIFE IN PREVENTING THE MURDERS”

Written on 6 November 1940, this highly significant autograph letter records Mahatma Gandhi’s direct intervention in the communal violence then afflicting Sindh. Addressing his trusted associate Anand T. Hingorani, Gandhi announces that Amtul Salaam is proceeding to the province prepared, in his arresting phrase, “to give her life” in an effort to prevent further murders.

The letter reveals Gandhi’s method of peace-making at its most personal and immediate. Rather than relying exclusively upon official negotiation, public statements, or institutional authority, he mobilised a network of individuals bound by trust, service and moral responsibility. Amtul Salaam was to approach Muslim leaders, appeal to Haji Sir Abdulla Haroon and work through local contacts capable of restoring dialogue. Anand, already established within Gandhi’s Sindh network, was instructed to assist her without reservation and to introduce her to Kikibehn Lalwani.

The document is particularly compelling for the contrast between the gravity of its subject and the intimacy of its form. Gandhi writes entirely in his own hand and closes simply with the familial signature "Bapu". The result is simultaneously a political instruction, a personal appeal, and an expression of extraordinary confidence in both Amtul Salaam and Anand Hingorani.

The letter also captures a defining principle of Gandhian action: the belief that communal harmony could not be restored through retaliation, coercion, or abstract political argument alone but required the physical presence of individuals willing to enter dangerous circumstances without hatred or fear. Amtul Salaam’s readiness to sacrifice herself is presented not as martyrdom for its own sake but as an act of moral witness intended to interrupt the cycle of communal violence.

Preserved with Hingorani’s annotated archival envelope, the letter retains the documentary immediacy of an active working archive. It records the moral and strategic conception of the mission; the following day, Gandhi translated that wider instruction into immediate logistics through the telegram now offered separately as Lot 69 announcing Amtul Salam's arrival in Karachi and directing Anand Hingorani to receive her.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.