Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: The number of the persons detained in connection with Congress activities on 1st April last was 1,252. The 21 persons still remaining in detention in the North-West Frontier Province on 1st March had all been released by 1st April.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: If the hon. Member will restrain his curiosity just a little longer, he may perhaps, in the words of solicitors' notices, hear of something to his advantage.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: May I take the opportunity of reading to the House a statement which I have been authorised by his Majesty's Goverment to make on the subject of India, and which is being published at the same time in India? The statement is in the form of a White Paper, and is now available in the Vote Office. It says: "During the recent visit of Field-Marshal Viscount Wavell to this country His Majesty's...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: I shall, of course, explain and amplify what is in that statement. As the statement has only been released a little while ago and a good many hon. Members have not had an opportunity of reading it, I thought it would be for the convenience of the House that I should read it.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: It has been of great importance that the issue of the statement should be synchronised in this country and in India. It was not possible to issue it earlier than this afternoon, and, therefore, I still hope that it may be for the convenience of the House that I should read the statement. If not, I am prepared to give an explanation of it without reading it.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: I suggest that in that case I need not submit the House to that tedium. As proceedings have been a little delayed, there has been time for a great many Members to see the White Paper, and I think I can cover the essential points in it sufficiently well in my explanatory statement. Therefore, I shall be only too happy, with the consent of the House, to proceed at once to some explanation of...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: The opinion of the House is divided, and it would certainly suit the convenience of a good many Members that I should read it out. I will read it as speedily as I can, and I hope hon. Members opposite will have patience with me while I do so because, after all, it is a statement of considerable importance not only to us here but to the people of India. I think I reached the end of the fifth...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: The main political parties are, of course, the Congress Party and the Moslem League. There are other important major elements in India, like the scheduled castes, the Sikhs, the Christians and so on, but those are the two main political parties. May I, after apologising to those hon. Members who have already read the White Paper and have listened patiently to my reading of it, now proceed...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: That is a matter of practical convenience. Most of his business will, I imagine, be conducted on behalf of Departments like the Board of Trade and the Treasury. The precise question as to who will answer for him in Parliament still remains to be settled, and is deserving of careful consideration. I have stated the conditions, inherent in the situation, which indicate the only line on which...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: I would ask the hon. Member to be a little patient, because I am coming to that in a moment. If the offer which His Majesty's Government now make is accepted, all the portfolios, except that of War Member held by the Commander-in-Chief, will be transferred to Indian hands. The portfolios transferred would include not only the important Home and Finance Departments, but also that of External...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: I would ask the hon. Member, as I asked his hon. Friend just now, to be a little patient and to allow me to explain the proposals in my own way. Whether the principles of arithmetical majority can ever apply in a country with such profound differences and such strong consciousness of those differences as exist in India is another question. Even the American constitution has disregarded those...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: May I explain that it was impossible for a good many reasons—as the hon. Member knows a great deal has been happening in the last few weeks—to get this matter settled before Lord Wavell left? It was also impossible for Lord Wavell to make his announcement before he had had time to make certain arrangements in India. The result of all that was that this statement could only be made to-day,...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: There is no record of any child being born underground. I am asking the Government of India how far they can supply the other information desired by the hon. Member. The hon. Member will be glad to know that in April last the Indian Legislature amended the existing law to make it illegal for women to work underground in the mines for 10 weeks before and six months after confinement while the...
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: It is not a question of sanctioning. The Government of India are dealing with an extremely difficult situation affecting the whole war situation and life in India. Machinery is in process of being ordered, or installed, which I hope will ease the situation and bring the desired change nearer.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: Yes, Sir.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: The Government of India are as anxious as Members of this House to terminate the employment of women in this way.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: They have been considerably increased. The payment now amounts to six rupees a week, for ten weeks before and six weeks after delivery.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: I expect to be in a position to make a statement before the House rises, probably on the Wednesday of next week.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: I understand it will be a matter for discussion through the usual channels.
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery: That is a matter for the Leader of the House.
