HC Deb 29 November 1937 vol 329 cc1661-2
5. Sir A. Knox

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will ask the Government of India to select a site for the statue of General Neill, which has been removed, by order of the Congress Ministry, from the position it has occupied in the town of Madras for 77 years?

Lord Stanley

I understand that the matter is under consideration in India.

Sir A. Knox

Does not the Noble Lord consider that this surrender to anti-British feeling will have deplorable effects in India, where there are only 200,000 Europeans against 350,000,000 Indians?

Vice-Admiral Taylor

Has the Governor of the Province no power to prevent this insult to the memory of a distinguished British General, which is also very offensive to Europeans in India?

Lord Stanley

We have no official information as to what has happened, but I do not think that the comments of my hon. and gallant Friend are justified.

Mr. Silverman

How many of the persons concerned were imprisoned without charge or trial?

Lord Stanley

I could not say without notice.

Mr. Dalton

Is it not a good thing to trust to the man on the spot in these matters?

Following is the statement:

Sir A. Knox

Is it not true that this General's statue has been removed from a prominent position in Madras and relegated to a museum?

Lord Stanley

If it is so, I regret that it should have happened.

Vice-Admiral Taylor

Will the Noble Lord inquire what are the reasons for the removal of this statue?

61. Sir N. Stewart Sandeman

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether he can find a site in London on which the statue of General Neill, which has recently been removed by decree of Congress from the place on which it has stood for more than a generation in the main street of Madras, may be erected, so that his distinguished services and death in the Indian Mutiny may be suitably remembered?

The First Commissioner of Works (Sir Philip Sassoon)

I understand that the fate of this statue is still under consideration in India.

Mr. G. Strauss

Have we not quite enough statues already?