Over 100 years later, Vancouver sets out to apologize for its role in 1914 Komagata Maru incident

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Vancouver City Council is issuing a public apology Tuesday for the city’s role in the historic 1914 Komagata Maru incident where almost 400 Sikh passengers were denied entry into Canada.

Council has worked with Jas Toor, the president of the Descendants of Komagata Maru Society, on a committee to declare Sunday, May 23, as a day of remembrance.

Toor’s grandfather was one of 376 Indian immigrants who 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.

“My grandfather … was the only student. He came for a higher education. Instead, he got a lesson in racism,” Toor says.

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.

“Unfortunately, they weren’t welcomed here. They stayed on the ship for two months, without water, without food — sometimes they have to go 24 hours without food, water, medication. Local communities and Indigenous First Nation people supplied some food … water. And after two months, they were told to leave,” Toor explains.

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.

“In India, Komagata Maru is known as the turning point in India’s freedom movement from the British Empire,” Toor says. “All Canadians should remember this. This is a part of the Canadian history. But this is also actually international history.”

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Toor says he’s happy to have the Komagata Maru be recognized and hopes that it will lead to more education on a crucial part of Canadian history.

“This means a lot, not only for us the South Asian community and for our Canadian people, younger people, so they understand that if we learn from our mistakes … they will not repeat that again.”

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

“It always takes time for the history to realize their mistakes. But mistakes could be realized right away, or maybe a year, 10 years, or 100 years later — as long as we correct the mistakes, then we move forward.”

– With files from The Canadain Press