HC Deb 22 May 1939 vol 347 cc1888-9
2. Sir Nairne Stewart Sandeman

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what is the present position of the members of the European staff of the Assam Oil Company besieged by strikers at Digboi?

Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead

I understand that, in consequence of the strike among the employés of the Assam Oil Company at Digboi, a small number of Europeans and Indians from among the staff are sleeping in the company's hospital, and a larger number are messing there. The Governor, however, assures me that the Europeans at Digboi are not, and never have been, in a state of siege. A strong force of military police has been stationed at Digboi and the neighbourhood since the beginning of the strike, and the latest reports indicate that the situation generally has greatly improved.