§ 12. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the content of the article in the newspaper. Vanguard, for which Rutti Bulsara, a prominent member of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party, was bound over for two years after being found guilty of printing and publishing this seditious article; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. J. AmeryThe owner of the Dinar Press in Zanzibar, who is also Publicity Secretary of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party, was charged last month on three counts, of printing, publishing and being in possession of a seditious publication.
On all these counts he was found guilty and was bound over, his printing machine being confiscated for one year.
I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the offending words in the Vanguard article.
§ Mr. JohnsonWhat was this sedition? As this was an article about the future independence of Zanzibar, will the Minister confirm that the two main parties in Zanzibar, the Afro-Shirazi and the Zanzibar Nationalist Party, are united on a common policy for early self-government? Will not the Minister be sensible about this and advance Zanzibaris into positions of authority where they may make decisions for their own people about their own affairs?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydPerhaps the hon. Member will wait until a copy of the offending text is placed in the Library.
Following are the details:But and it is a big but the Zanzibar Government are deliberately fomenting racial hatred in Zanzibar where practically none exists and they do this for no better purpose than to extend their tenure of office by that old gag of divide and rule.