Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated May 4, 1955: Not our responsibility: PM

Prime Minister Nehru told the Lok Sabha on May 3 that it was not the responsibility of the Government of India to look after Stateless persons. He had been asked by Mr. Joachin Alva if the Government had a clear-cut programme to receive and lodge Stateless persons who would be thrown out of Ceylon. Answering another question, Mr. Nehru said the Indian High Commissioner in Ceylon had been invited for talks with officials of the Ceylon Government and he had accepted the invitation. He had not been told what the agenda was. Earlier, Mr. A.K. Chanda, Deputy Minister for External Affairs, told Mr. Raghunath Singh that the Government of India had requested the Ceylon Government to postpone consideration of the Bill to amend the Ceylon Immigrants and Emigrants Act of 1948 as, in India's view, the Bill was not in conformity with the agreement of January 1954. The Bill, however, had now been passed by both Houses of the Ceylon Parliament and was awaiting the assent of the Governor-General. Asked if India had suggested to Ceylon that the Immigrants and Emigrants Bill should not be passed unless and until a register of Indian nationals had been compiled, Mr. Chanda said the Government of India had sent an aide memoire to Colombo stating that before registering the unregistered Indian nationals it would not be proper to proceed with the Bill. Mr. Kasliwal asked if the Government of India was in a position to contradict the statements made on the floor of the Ceylon Parliament that the Indian High Commissioner was obstructing the Indo-Ceylon Agreement. Mr. Chanda replied: "The allegations are entirely baseless. Our High Commissioner has given every help to the Ceylon Government."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Miscellaneous

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

Cartoonscape
The Hindu Crossword No. 8284
Solution to Puzzle No. 8283
Path of Self-enquiry
dated May 4, 1955: Not our responsibility: PM
dated May 4, 1955: Visitor from zoo
Weather

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu