§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether his attention has been drawn to a statement to the following effect which appeared in The Times of Ceylon, and in The Lahore Tribune, with reference to the alleged treatment of Arabi Pasha and his fellow-prisoners, Yakub Sami and Fehmy Pasha in Ceylon:—
A Jubilee procession being formed to pass before the Governor, some troops marched by, 678 after which Arabi, Yakub, and Fehmy stepped out, and in a sad and solemn manner walked past the pavilion;and, whether there is any truth in this statement; and, if so, whether Arabi and his friends formed part of the procession as captives of war or as subjects of the Queen?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir HENRY HOLLAND) (Hampstead)I have seen in The Times of Ceylon and other newspapers a report of the Jubilee celebrations, which included a procession past the Governor representing all races and creeds. The troops did not form part of this procession, but at the head of it were about 2,000 Sunday-school children, and among those that followed were representatives of the Mahomedan community in Ceylon, including the Egyptian exiles. They did not attend in any sense as prisoners, or by direction, but merely with the other inhabitants of the Island who voluntarily took part in the celebrations. I may add that it appears in the same paper from which the hon. Member quotes that on the following day three of the Egyptian exiles presented an Address to the Governor for transmission to Her Majesty, containing loyal expressions of congratulation in connection with the Jubilee, and of heartfelt thanks for the just and generous treatment accorded to them in Ceylon, and expressing further their pleasure that they were accorded the privilege of taking a part themselves in the enjoyment of the day.