§ Mr. Dobbieasked the Secretary of State for India (1) why a cable sent to Bombay on the 8th July, reporting the bad conditions of Indian seamen's homes in Liverpool, by the London correspondent of the United Press of India, has been withheld although passed by the British censor, who is responsible for this; and whether the Indian censor is instructed to censor newspaper cables for reasons other than military;
(2) why cables sent to the newspaper "Kesari," of Poona, during the last 707W week of June and the first two weeks of July, by its London correspondent, have been withheld, although passed by British censors; who is responsible for this; and why the cables are subject to a double censorship?
§ Mr. AmeryI have no information about the treatment of the cables in question by the censorship in India, but will make inquiry. Although preferential treatment is given in India to Press telegrams passed by the United Kingdom censorship, the Government of India have reserved the right to scrutinise any incoming message not only from the purely military aspect but in the light of their knowledge of conditions in India.