§ MR. S. SMITH (Flintshire)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the existence of a hook-swinging festival at a village only 17 miles from Calcutta, at which it is stated that the hooks had been passed into about two and a-half inches of the skin and flesh of the man's back; and whether the Government of India will be urged to put an end to the annual recurrence of these festivals?
§ SIR E. GREYMy hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. Yes, Sir; it had previously been brought to the notice of the Secretary of State by the Government of India in June in reply to a Despatch asking them, with reference to recent cases in Madras, to consider how the practice of hook swinging might best be finally extinguished. The Secretary of State has not yet received the proposals of the Government of India. I shall be glad to show my hon. Friend the Papers that have been received.