3-056-987 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Final page of a letter from Gandhi to Sir Richard Tottenham, 1943. '(I) must say that it does me an injustice. The proper course would be to publish the full correspondence and let the public judge for themselves. Yours sincerely, M.K. Gandhi'. In 1942, a British mission had offered India dominion status, but this was rejected by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress party. The 73-year old Gandhi was imprisoned, and started a 21-day penitential fast. Concerned about Gandhi's health, the British offered to release him temporarily, but, in this letter of 8 February 1943 to Sir Richard Tottenham, the Secretary of State for the Home Department of the Government of India, Gandhi refused the offer. Gandhi survived the fast, but in 1944 his health deteriorated further, and he was released from jail.