§ 8. Mr. WARDLAW-MILNEasked the Under-Secretary of State for India why the Indian Government did not insist on the surrender of the Kohat gang of murderers; and what guarantee the Government 1890 of India have that the men who were arrested in Afghanistan and deported by His Highness the Ameer to Turkestan will be kept in custody there and will not again regain their freedom?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. J. Ramsay MacDonald)I have been asked to answer this question. In the absence of any extradition treaty with Afghanistan upon which to base a request for the surrender of the gang, the matter could only be dealt with in the light of broad political considerations, among which was the fact that their surrender would have been unprecedented and contrary to the Afghan doctrine of asylum. His Majesty's Government decided in the circumstances to accept the alternative of deportation to Afghan Turkestan. One of the conditions is that the Afghan Government give an official guarantee that the gang will be kept under strict surveillance in a circumscribed area and that no member will ever be allowed to return to the vicinity of the Indian frontier.
§ Mr. WARDLAW-MILNEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this right of asylum does not apply in these cases?
§ The PRIME MINISTERMy information is that it does, and we have been going on that assumption.