MR. E. H. PTCKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the indignities alleged to have been inflicted on the widow of the Nawab of Radhanpur through the Political Agent, Major Lyde, under whose orders the guards were removed from the zenana, the Begum's allowances stopped, 111 her jewels and wardrobe seized, and property assigned to her by the will of the Nawab taken away; whether he is aware that, under the pretext of securing hidden treasures, the palace had been rudely rifled two or three times, the last occasion being so recently as the 15th April; if treasure has been found at the palace, is he satisfied that it belongs to the State, and not to the estate of the late Nawab, to be applied for purposes designated in his will; and can copies of the reports of the Political Agent, and of the memorial presented by the Begum to the Bombay Government, be laid upon the Table, together with such replies as Lord Sandhurst's Government may have recorded in reference to these transactions?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingI am aware of the circumstances to which the hon. Member's Question relates. The object of the measures which have been taken was to prevent the misappropriation of property which belonged to the State of Radhanpur, and I am advised that the Government of Bombay is satisfied that the property thus recovered is State property, with the exception of certain articles which, as soon as they were proved to belong to the Hindu widow of the late Nawab, were at once restored to her. I have no reason to believe that any harsh or offensive measures were employed. When the corespondence relating to this matter is complete I will consider whether it can be laid on the Table of the House.