§ 65. Mr. REMERasked the Secretary of State for India if he can make any statement as to the Cawnpore riots?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Wedgwood Benn)The rioting started on the afternoon of the 24th March. By the evening of the 26th March the situation had greatly improved and the reports received by me mention only one complaint of arson as having been made later than the 28th March. By the 1st. April the city had largely settled down to normal conditions. The latest figures of casualties are—ascertained deaths 290, injured 965. As has been stated in the Press a Commission of Inquiry has been appointed by the United Provinces Government, the terms of reference being "To inquire into and report on the predisposing and immediate causes of the communal outbreak and its nature from day to day and how it was dealt with at each stage by the local authorities, with findings on the adequacy of the measures taken."