§ MR. J. M. MACLEAN (Cardiff)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India if he can give any further explanation than is contained in the Blue Book of the reasons why the Khyber Rifles at Lundi Kotal last August were, in a manner described by Lord Roberts as quite incomprehensible, deprived of the support of their British officer at the time when it was most needed?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIAAs I stated the other day, the military authorities on the spot decided that troops from Peshawar could not be sent up the Khyber Pass, and Sir R. Udny, with this knowledge, recalled Captain Barton from Lundi Kotal, in the belief that the Khyber Rifles were not sufficiently strong or reliable to repel an attack, if made in force, upon them, and that Captain Barton's presence at Lundi Kotal would precipitate and aggravate the contemplated attack.