§ Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALDasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the India Office had received any report regarding the riotous occurrences in Peshawar during the 21st and 22nd March last; whether he had been informed that the Hindu community had formulated charges against the district magistrate, and has offered to submit these charges to an impartial inquiry, but that the Acting Commissioner had declined to receive the petition or a deputation in support of it; whether the India Office had information showing that after the outbreak of riotousness on the 21st March, the district magistrate left Peshawar in the midst of the rioting without making suitable arrangements for the protection of law and order; and whether, in view of these and subsequent petty outbreaks of disorder on the border, the India Office had any Papers to lay upon the Table for the information of Members?
§ Sir J. D. REESBefore the Undersecretary answers, may I ask whether it is usual for the accused to put the magistrate on trial outside the realm of comic opera?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY Of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Montagu)I shall content myself by answering the question on the Paper. I would refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for East Leeds on 21st June. The Secretary of State has received no official report on the subject, but he is making inquiry as to the facts.