City of Vancouver marks first Komagata Maru Remembrance Day

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — 107 years ago, 376 Sikh, Hindu and Muslim passengers on the Komagata Maru arrived on the shores of B.C., only to be sent back to India two months later.

On Sunday, the City of Vancouver declared a day of remembrance after formally apologizing for its role in the incident earlier this week.

It’s something descendants of passengers have been asking for, many bearing the pain of the incident as most of the passengers were imprisoned or killed when they returned to India.

107 years ago today, Sikh, Hindu & Muslim passengers aboard the Komagata Maru arrived on the shores of BC & sent back to India. Vancouver is marking a day of Remembrance for the 1st time to acknowledge generations of pain & trauma felt by passengers & their descendants @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/NabcRbxeDt

— Tarnjit Kaur Parmar (@Tarnjitkparmar) May 23, 2021

Raj Singh Toor is a member of the Komagata Maru Society and he says acknowledging the pain caused is some relief to the family members.

“This helps to heal our wounds. So we are feeling good today,” he says.

Councillor Pete Fry tells NEWS 1130 recognizing and learning about the Komagata Maru incident is important to all Canadians and people in Vancouver.

“This didn’t happen somewhere else. This happened right here,” he says.

“It may be even hard to comprehend how Vancouver wasn’t a sort of multicultural symbol that is today … it’s important to challenge these sort of our assumptions of the past and the future. So, I think recognizing that this is an act of reconciliation.”

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376 Indian immigrants arrived off the coast of B.C. on the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, only to be denied entry into Vancouver, which at the time was the country’s most diverse city. Immigration regulations at the time required migrants to arrive in Canada directly from their country of origin – a journey that was virtually impossible in 1914.

With the exception of 20 passengers who had previously lived in Canada, officials refused to allow the immigrants in, even though they were British subjects just like every other Canadian at the time. The vessel returned to India, where 19 of the passengers were killed in a skirmish with British authorities, and dozens of others were imprisoned or forced into hiding.

“As we’ve looked deeper into the story of the Komagata Maru and how it impacted allies on shore, how it impacted ultimately the folks when they returned to India and the violence and persecution, they’re faced on their return, after being held in Vancouver harbour for two months — I think … it’s an important story to tell. And I think more Vancouverites should know it,” Fry says.

The city is rolling out a video made with various community groups, explaining the incident through the eyes of the passenger’s families.

“It’s so critical to get the real stories [from] people whose lives were affected by this. And it gives us so much more sort of vibrancy and context for us to understand the … story that is behind this.”

This video will be screened every year at City Hall as an educational piece for school visits and the public.

What was the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, and why did #VanCityCouncil apologize this week for their role in it? Listen to passengers’ descendants and families tell the story of what happened this #KomagataMaruRemembranceDay.

Watch the full video here: https://t.co/yzaXuqoMxF pic.twitter.com/9ZCV27Cx4d

— City of Vancouver (@CityofVancouver) May 23, 2021

Toor adds he’s thankful for the city and the mayor for recognizing the Komagata Maru passengers and the city’s role in the incident.

“We can’t undo the past, but we can move forward,” he says.

The Canadian and the B.C. government have both issued formal apologies for the incident.

– With files from The Canadian Press