INDIA OFFICE LIBRARY (Hansard, 13 June 1955)

§ LORD HAILEY
My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE EARL OF HOME)
I am obliged to the noble Lord for giving me the opportunity to make a statement. Your Lordships may have seen correspondence in the newspapers, in the course of which, as a result of the published account of some discussions taking place at New Delhi, a number of scholars and learned bodies have expressed serious misgivings lest it should have been decided to disperse or export the contents of the India Office Library. Let me therefore say at once that no such decision has been taken; nor could it be taken without the full concurrence of the United Kingdom Government, who were not parties to the discussions in question.
The India Office Library is one of the greatest oriental libraries in the world. It contains some 280,000 printed books, and a wealth of other material; including a great collection of Manuscripts in English and in oriental languages. Its scope is not 32 confined to India and Pakistan; it extends also to the literatures, histories, and cultures of many other Eastern countries, including, for example, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Ceylon, Tibet, Nepal, Persia, and Arabia. It has always been readily accessible to scholars and research workers from all over the world. In the view of Her Majesty's Government, the right course is that the Library should remain intact and in this country. But we would, of course, readily consider any suggestions that the Governments of India and Pakistan may wish to make to us as regards the detailed administration of, or access to, the Library.
As regards the historical records, that is to say the archives of the East India Company and the India Office, which are now in the custody of the Commonwealth Relations Office, I am glad to be able to assure the noble Lord that Her Majesty's present Government adhere to the statement made in this House on July 23, 1947 by the noble Lord, the Earl of Listowel, who was then Secretary of State for India, to the effect that it was the Government's intention to retain those records in this country.

§ LORD HAILEY
My Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Earl for his reply. May I ask him a supplementary question regarding the purely legal aspect of the retention of the Library? Is it not clear that, under the provisions of Section 172 of the Government of India Act, 1935, we have a legal right to retain possession of the Library unless and until it is proposed to put the books or its other contents to a use other than that to which they were being put when the Act was passed in 1935?

THE EARL OF HOME
My Lords, I can tell the noble Lord, Lord Hailey, that I have taken legal advice on this matter and my legal advice is that this Library is the property of Her Majesty's Government, and it is in accordance with what the noble Lord has suggested in his supplementary question.

§ THE EARL OF LISTOWEL
My Lords, I am very glad indeed to hear from the noble Earl that he means to continue our policy in regard to the treatment of the historical records of the India Office. I am sure that the noble Earl would agree that it is desirable that whatever is done with the contents of the India Office Library should be done with the agree- 33 ment and consent of all the Commonwealth Governments concerned. I should like to ask him whether he has informed the Governments of India and of Pakistan of his proposal, and, if so, whether they have expressed any view.

THE EARL OF HOME
My Lords, the timing of this Question is a little unfortunate, but that could not be avoided. The Indian Minister for Education is arriving in this country tomorrow, and I have asked the High Commissioner to assure him of the fact that there was no discourtesy on my part and, of course, that I intended none, in answering this Question today. But I have had no representations from the Government of India or from the Government of Pakistan. In case I have misled anyone about the legal position, may I say that I think the legal position clearly is that no decision can be taken about the future of this Library and no alteration can be made without the consent of all three parties—the Indian Government, the Government of Pakistan and the British Government.

VISCOUNT ELIBANK
My Lords, as the result of the noble Earl's very satisfactory answer may I give him notice that. I shall withdraw the Question on this subject which I had down for Wednesday?