Important autograph letter of Gandhi settling a dispute within the Indian National Congress 1937 – important autograph letter on 4pp 4to, in somewhat poor condition and in need of conservation, with paper browned, and portions missing from the top of each sheet affecting a few words, but the letter is entirely legible otherwise and the main body of the letter and its importance is not affected. The letter to an unnamed correspondent is dated, 9pm August 1st 1937, and signifies Gandhi’s intercession in a serious dispute within the Indian National Congress. A printed note with the letter suggests that this was between Bharucha and Sardar V Patel during the early years of the freedom struggle. Bharucha had apparently complained that Sardar had shown high handedness within the Indian National Congress, and had asked Gandhi to give his judgement. The letter does, however seem to be to someone other than Bharucha, as he is mentioned in the text (see below) and therefore is most probably to another freedom activist. It is however, clearly a most important letter at a crucial period of the development of the freedom movement. In this letter, Gandhi writes : ‘...your attitude is most [b]ewildering. Before I issue this offer I am prepared to go through the whole of your charges & if I feel convinced that you have been unjustly dealt with by Sardar, I shall unhesitatingly say so & do everything humanly possible to undo the mischief. If on the other hand I find against you & you are not satisfied with my finding I shall request Mr Bahadarji or Sir Rabindra [Nath Tagore ?] to go through the recorded evidence and review [...]these proceedings [must not ?] be made public so far as [I am] concerned. If the find[ings] are against you, you shall have the opportunity of rendering an apology & making a full & frank confession of your weakness and the misery [?] done to the public & Sardar & other colleagues. But if you want the proceedings to be public I don’t mind. You need not worry about the cost & your friends they need not even know what is being done. If you do not adopt any of the things I suggest & name suggested, what I have known [of the charg]es against you. I [have] no desire to be in this [a]ffair at all but you [w]anted me to intercede. Many friends including Bharucha have been pressing me to do likewise. I may not now sit still. I hope you will understand my anxiety to see that full justice is done to you & to avoid everything that may possibly harm you without cause. I leave for Delhi on 3rd & hope to return on 5th.You may wire to me on 4th. M K Gandhi. If you desire [....] by mean please se[nd] your charge sheet &[...] precise of your evide[nce]. I will send it to Sardar and any other colleagues against whom you have any grievance and after having had his and their reply I shall call for such evidence as may be required if any. These proceedings need not take more than a week. MKG.