 | |
| Date | May 23, 1914 |
|---|---|
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Outcome | Ship forced out of Canada |
| Deaths | Twenty-six in government records,[a] |
TheKomagata Maru incident involved the JapanesesteamshipKomagata Maru, on which a group of people fromBritish India attempted to migrate toCanada in April 1914, but most were denied entry and forced to return toBudge Budge, near Calcutta (present-dayKolkata). There, theIndian Imperial Police attempted to arrest the group leaders. A riot ensued, and they were fired upon by the police, resulting in multiple deaths.[2]
Komagata Maru sailed fromBritish Hong Kong, viaShanghai,China, andYokohama,Japan, toVancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on April 4, 1914, carrying 376 passengers fromPunjab province in British India.[3] The passengers were 340Sikhs, 24Muslims and 12Hindus, allPunjabis andBritish subjects.[4] Of these 376 passengers, 24 were admitted to Canada, but the other 352 were not allowed to disembark in Canada due to suspected links to revolutionaries in India. The ship was forced to leave Canadian waters, escorted byHMCS Rainbow, one of Canada's first two naval vessels.[5][6]
The Canadian government's first attempt to restrict immigration from British India was anorder in council issued on January 8, 1908, that prohibited immigration of persons who "in the opinion of the Minister of the Interior" did not "come from the country of their birth or citizenship by a continuous journey and or through tickets purchased before leaving their country of their birth or nationality".[7] In practice thiscontinuous journey regulation applied only to ships that began their voyage in India, as the great distance usually necessitated a stopover in Japan or Hawaii. These regulations came at a time when Canada was accepting huge numbers of immigrants, almost all of whom came from Europe. More than 400,000 arrived in 1913.[8] Race relations in Vancouver had been strained in the years before the arrival of theKomagata Maru, culminating in theAnti-Oriental riots of 1907.
The visions of men are widened by travel and contacts with citizens of a free country will infuse a spirit of independence and foster yearnings for freedom in the minds of the emasculated subjects of alien rule.
— Gurdit Singh
Gurdit Singh Sandhu, fromSarhali (not to be confused with Gurdit Singh Jawanda fromHaripur Khalsa, a 1906 Indo-Canadian immigration pioneer), was aSingaporean businessman who was aware that Canadian exclusion laws were preventing Punjabis from immigrating there. He wanted to circumvent these laws by hiring a ship to sail fromKolkata to Vancouver. His aim was to help his compatriots whose previous journeys to Canada had been blocked.
Though Gurdit Singh was apparently aware of regulations when he chartered the shipKomagata Maru in January 1914,[9][10] he continued with his enterprise in order to challenge the continuous journey regulation, in the hope of opening the door for immigration from India to Canada.
At the same time, in January 1914, he publicly espoused theGhadarite cause while in Hong Kong.[11] The Ghadar Movement was an organization founded by Punjab residents of the United States and Canada in June 1913 with the aim of gainingIndia independence from British rule. It was also known as the Khalsa Association of the Pacific Coast.
The passengers consisted of 340Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus, allBritish subjects. One of the Sikh passengers, Jagat Singh Thind, was the youngest brother ofBhagat Singh Thind, an Indian-American Sikh writer and lecturer on "spiritual science" who was involved in an important legal battle over the rights of Indians to obtain U.S. citizenship (United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind).[12]
The Canadian Government was aware that amongst the passengers were a number ofIndian nationalists intent on creating disorder in support of efforts to overthrowBritish rule in India. (seeGhadar conspiracy,Annie Larsen arms plot, andChristmas Day Plot.)[13] In addition to the security risks, there was a desire to prevent Indian nationals from immigrating to Canada.[14][verification needed]
Hong Kong became the point of departure. The ship was scheduled to leave in March, but Singh was arrested for selling tickets for an illegal voyage.[b] After several months he was released on bail and given permission byFrancis Henry May, the Governor of Hong Kong, to set sail. The ship departed on April 4 with 165 passengers.[15] More passengers joined at Shanghai on April 8, and the ship arrived at Yokohama on April 14. It left Yokohama on May 3 with its complement of 376 passengers and sailed intoBurrard Inlet, near Vancouver, on May 23. The Indian nationalist revolutionariesBarkatullah andBhagwan Singh Gyanee met with the ship en route. Bhagwan Singh Gyanee was head priest of thegurdwara in Vancouver and had been one of three delegates sent to London and India to represent the case ofIndians in Canada.Ghadarite literature was disseminated on board and political meetings took place on board. A passenger told a British officer:[where?] "This ship belongs to the whole of India, this is a symbol of the honour of India and if this was detained, there would bemutiny in the armies".[citation needed]
WhenKomagata Maru arrived in Canadian waters, first atCoal Harbour inBurrard Inlet some 200 meters (220 yards) offCPR Pier A, it was not allowed to dock. The first immigration officer to meet the ship in Vancouver wasFred "Cyclone" Taylor.[16] WhilePrime Minister of CanadaRobert Borden decided what to do with the ship, theConservativePremier of British Columbia,Richard McBride, gave a categorical statement that the passengers would not be allowed to disembark. Conservative MPH. H. Stevens organized a public meeting against allowing the ship's passengers to disembark and urged the government to refuse to allow the ship to remain. Stevens worked with immigration official Malcolm R.J. Reid to keep the passengers offshore. Reid's intransigence, supported by Stevens, led to the mistreatment of the passengers on the ship and prolonged its departure date, which was not resolved until the intervention of the federal Minister of Agriculture,Martin Burrell, MP forYale—Cariboo.[when?]
Some South Asian Canadians already settled in Canada began launching "shore committees" led by Husain Rahim (Gujarati-Canadian),[17][18] Muhammad Akbar (Punjabi-Canadian)[17] and Sohan Lal Pathak.[19] These were to protest the decision that denied entry to theKomagata Maru passengers. Protest meetings were held in Canada and the United States. At one of these meetings held in Dominion Hall, Vancouver, the assembly resolved that if the passengers were not allowed entry into Canada, Indo-Canadians should follow them back to India to start a rebellion orGhadar. A British government agent who infiltrated the meeting wired government officials in London and Ottawa to tell them that supporters of the Ghadar Party were on the ship.
The shore committee raised $22,000 as an installment for chartering the ship. They also launched a lawsuit underJ. Edward Bird's legal counsel on behalf of Munshi Singh, one of the passengers. On July 6, the full bench of theBritish Columbia Court of Appeal delivered a unanimous judgement that under new orders-in-council it had no authority to interfere with the decisions of the Department of Immigration and Colonization.[20] Angry passengers relieved the Japanese captain of control of the ship, but the Canadian government ordered the harbour tugSea Lion to push the ship out to sea.[21] On July 19, the angry passengers mounted an attack. The next day the Vancouver newspaperThe Sun reported: "Howling masses of Hindus showered policemen with lumps of coal and bricks ... it was like standing underneath a coal chute".[22][citation needed]
The government also mobilizedHMCS Rainbow, aRoyal Canadian Navy ship under the command of Commander Hose, with troops from the11th Regiment "Irish Fusiliers of Canada",72nd Regiment "Seaforth Highlanders of Canada", and the6th Regiment "The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles".[23] In the end, only 22 passengers were admitted to Canada, since the ship had not sailed directly from India and many of the passengers were suspected to have ties to revolutionaries in India. The ship was turned around and forced to depart for Asia on July 23.[6]
During the controversy, Punjabi residents of Canada had supplied information toW. C. Hopkinson, a British immigration official. Two of these informants were murdered in August 1914. Hopkinson was gunned down at the Vancouver courthouse while attending the Punjabi trials in October 1914.[24]
Komagata Maru arrived inCalcutta on September 27. Upon entry into the harbour, the ship was stopped by a gunboat, and the passengers were placed under guard. British authorities in India saw the men onKomagata Maru not only as self-confessed lawbreakers, but also as dangerous political agitators. They suspected that white and South Asian radicals were using the incident to create rebellion among South Asians in the Pacific Northwest. When the ship docked atBudge Budge, the police went to arrest Baba Gurdit Singh and the twenty or so other men whom they viewed as leaders. He resisted arrest, a friend of his assaulted a policeman, and a general riot ensued. Shots were fired and twenty of the passengers were killed. Some escaped, but the remainder were arrested and imprisoned or sent to their villages and kept under village arrest for the duration of the First World War. This incident became known as the Budge Budge riot. Ringleader Gurdit Singh Sandhu managed to escape and lived in hiding until 1922.Mahatma Gandhi urged him to give himself up as a "true patriot". Upon his doing so he was imprisoned for five years.[25]
TheKomagata Maru incident was widely cited at the time by Indian groups to highlight discrepancies in Canadian immigration laws. Further, the inflamed passions in the wake of the incident were widely cultivated by the Indian revolutionary organization, the Ghadar Party, to rally support for its aims. In a number of meetings ranging from California in 1914 to the Indian diaspora, prominent Ghadarites includingBarkatullah,Tarak Nath Das, andSohan Singh used the incident as a rallying point to recruit members for the Ghadar movement, most notably in support ofpromulgating plans to coordinate a massive uprising in India. Their efforts failed due to lack of support from the general population.
In 1952 the Indian government set up a memorial to theKomagata Maru martyrs near the Budge Budge. It was inaugurated by Indian Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru. The monument is locally known as thePunjabi Monument and is modelled as akirpan (Sikh dagger) rising up toward the sky.[26]
A tripartite agreement was signed between the Kolkata Port Trust, Union Ministry of Culture and theKomagata Maru Trust for the construction of a G+2 (three storey) building behind the existing memorial. The building will house an administrative office and library in the ground floor, a museum in the first floor and auditorium in the second. The total cost of the construction will amount to 24 millionIndian rupees (INR).[27]
In 2014 government of India issued two special coins, INR 5 and INR 100, to mark the centenary of theKomagata Maru incident.[28] A 2025 movieGuru Nanak Jahaz was made on incidents of Komagata Maru.[29][30]
A plaque commemorating the 75th anniversary of the departure ofKomagata Maru was placed in the Sikh gurdwara (temple) in Vancouver on July 23, 1989. Also, a plaque for the 75th anniversary lies in Portal Park, at 1099 West Hastings Street, Vancouver.[31] The 80th anniversary of the arrival ofKomagata Maru is commemorated by a plaque placed in Vancouver Harbour in 1994.
The first phase[32] of theKomagata Maru Museum[33] was opened in June 2012 at theKhalsa Diwan Society Vancouver Ross Street Temple. A monument in remembrance of theKomagata Maru incident was unveiled on July 23, 2012.[34] It is located near the steps of the seawall that lead up to theVancouver Convention Centre West Building in Coal Harbour. A stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the arrival ofKomagata Maru was released byCanada Post on May 1, 2014.[35]
Raj Singh Toor, spokesperson and vice-president of the Descendants of theKomagata Maru Society has worked to bring about commemorations to the legacy of theKomagata Maru. Toor is a grandson of Baba Puran Singh Janetpura, one of the passengers on theKomagata Maru.[36] After Toor spoke to Surrey, British Columbia city council, part of 75A Avenue in Surrey was renamedKomagata Maru Way on July 31, 2019.[37] As well, a heritage storyboard titled "Remembering theKomagata Maru" was installed at R. A. Nicholson Park in Surrey on September 17, 2020.[38] On December 23, 2020, as a result of Toor's presentations to Delta city council, a storyboard commemorating theKomagata Maru was installed in the North Delta Social Heart Plaza.[39]
On October 4, 2022, an interpretive plaque for theKomagata Maru Perimeter Trail and Dock was unveiled in New Westminster, BC, after Toor requested New Westminster name a civic asset in memory of theKomagata Maru.[40] One month later, on November 9, 2022, Port Moody, BC, unveiled a new heritage storyboard at Rocky Point Park recalling the plight of theKomagata Maru, after Toor's 2021 presentation to Port Moody City Council.[41] Richmond, BC, installed on July 12, 2023, twoKomagata Maru commemorative signs in King George Park following Toor's 2019 request that the city acknowledge the journey of theKomagata Maru.[42]
Then on July 22, 2023, the section of South Fraser Way in front of the Abbotsford Sikh Temple National Historic Site (also known as theGur Sikh Temple) was commemoratively renamedKomagata Maru Way.[43] As well, three signs were installed, detailing the contributions of the Sikh community in helping to address the thirst, hunger, and ill health that many passengers of theKomagata Maru were experiencing. These commemorations were the result of work that Toor began in 2019 along with the Abbotsford Parks, Recreation & Culture department.
Toor was part of the unveiling ceremony in Mission, BC, on August 16, 2023, of aKomagata Maruinterpretive sign at Jack Poole Park.[44] This sign was the result of Toor's April 19, 2021, presentation to Mission council requesting recognition of theKomagata Maru, given the importance of the South Asian community in Mission's history.[45] Mission City Council and the Mission School Board also approved a display board that is to be used to teach Mission students about theKomagata Maru incident, and about the need for respecting and valuing people of different cultures.[46][47]
In 2024,Canada Place indowntown Vancouver was co-namedKomagata Maru Place.[48][49][50][51] The new signage was unveiled on February 9, 2024, following five years of advocacy by Toor.[52][53][54][55]
As well, due to lobbying efforts by Toor, May 23 is a day of remembrance for the passengers of theKomagata Maru in the province of BC and many of its municipalities. May 23, 2020, was recognized by the city of Surrey and the province of British Columbia asKomagata Maru Remembrance Day.[56] The city of New Westminster and city of Victoria declared May 23, 2021, asKomagata Maru Remembrance Day, while the city of Vancouver commemorated the day asKomagata Maru Day of Remembrance.[56] May 23, 2023, was proclaimed by the City of Mission asKomagata Maru Remembrance Day.[57] The city of Burnaby and the city of Port Coquitlam proclaimed May 23 of every year asKomagata Maru Remembrance Day.[56]
Toor has also been active in holding those in power at the time responsible for their actions. Following Toor's 2018 request to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,H. H. Stevens' name was removed from a federal building in Vancouver.[58][59][60]
In response to calls for the government of Canada to address historic wrongs involving immigration and wartime measures, the Conservative government in 2006 created the community historical recognition program to provide grant and contribution funding for community projects linked to wartime measures and immigration restrictions and a national historical recognition program to fund federal initiatives, developed in partnership with various groups. The announcement was made on June 23, 2006, when Prime MinisterStephen Harper apologized in the House of Commons for thehead tax against Chinese immigrants.[61]
On August 6, 2006, Prime Minister Harper made a speech at theGhadri Babiyan da Mela (Festival of the Ghadar Party) in Surrey, BC, where he stated that the government of Canada acknowledged theKomagata Maru incident and announced the government's commitment to "undertake consultations with the Indo-Canadian community on how best to recognize this sad moment in Canada's history".[62] On April 3, 2008,Ruby Dhalla, MP forBrampton—Springdale, tabled motion 469 (M-469) in the House of Commons which read, "That, in the opinion of the House, the government should officially apologize to the Indo-Canadian community and to the individuals impacted in the 1914Komagata Maru incident, in which passengers were prevented from landing in Canada."[63] On May 10, 2008,Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity), announced the Indo-Canadian community would be able to apply for up to $2.5 million in grants and contributions funding to commemorate theKomagata Maru incident.[64] Following further debate on May 15, 2008, Dhalla's motion was passed by the House of Commons.[65]
On May 23, 2008, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unanimously passed a resolution "that this Legislature apologizes for the events of May 23, 1914, when 376 passengers of theKomagata Maru, stationed off Vancouver harbour, were denied entry by Canada. The House deeply regrets that the passengers, who sought refuge in our country and our province, were turned away without benefit of the fair and impartial treatment befitting a society where people of all cultures are welcomed and accepted."[66]
On August 3, 2008, Harper appeared at the 13th annual Ghadri Babiyan Da Mela (festival) in Surrey, B.C., to issue an apology for theKomagata Maru incident. He said, in response to the House of Commons motion calling for an apology by the government, "On behalf of the government of Canada, I am officially conveying as prime minister that apology."[67]
Some members of the Sikh community were unsatisfied with the apology because they expected it to be made in Parliament. Secretary of State Jason Kenney said: "The apology has been given and it won't be repeated".[68]
Before Prime Minister Harper made his statement about the tragedy (at the Mela Ghadri Babiyan Da), members of the Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation had insisted the apology during an election swing through Surrey was not enough, and that a formal apology in Parliament was required (this was a part of the original ask by the Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation). Mr. Harper's team was not willing to make that offer, and he was roundly booed at the festival by foundation members when he did make his statement. The foundation continued in its efforts to obtain an apology, and eventually worked with the government of Justin Trudeau to make it a reality. Trudeau promised an apology in the House of Commons before he was elected PM, and kept that promise in 2016, when he offered an official apology in the House of Commons.
To members of the Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation only an official apology in Parliament, and written into Hansard, was acceptable. The apology, according to the group (and many legal experts they worked with) had to be entered into the public record - the record of the House of Commons - or it was just empty words. It was important to the group that future generations would have that record, and the apology didn't just disappear in a pile of press releases and web stories.
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), which was involved in the expulsion of theKomagata Maru, was commanded by a Sikh,Harjit Sajjan, from 2011 until 2014. He later became Minister of National Defence.[69]
On May 18, 2016, Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau gave a formal "full apology" for the incident in the House of Commons.[70][71][72] This formal apology came about due to lobbying from the Indo-Canadian community, such as the work done by the Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation (as specifically noted in the Prime Minister's speech) and The Descendants of theKomagata Maru Society.[73][74][75][76]
On May 18, 2021, due to lobbying efforts of Raj Singh Toor, Vancouver City Council said that they "sincerely apologize for the role the City played in the incident, especially supporting laws that prevented passengers from disembarking".[77] Also due to lobbying efforts of Toor, New Westminster City Council acknowledged on September 27, 2021, that the city's "...formal support of discriminatory, racist and exclusionary legislation contributed to the plight of the passengers of theKomagata Maru, both in Canadian waters and upon their return to India."[78] Consequently, "The City of New Westminster formally apologizes to the South Asian community and the descendants of the survivors of theKomagata Maru for its past actions which resulted in discrimination and exclusion."[79]
Jeevan Sangram is a 1974 IndianHindi-language action-drama film directed by Rajbans Khanna. Based on theKomagata Maru incident it follows Arjun on board the ship and his return to India thereafter where he escapes the firing at the harbour and becomes a rebel against British rule in India.[80]
The first Canadian play based on the incident isThe Komagata Maru Incident, written bySharon Pollock and presented in January 1976.[81] It was presented again in 2017 by theStratford Festival, directed by Keira Loughran, starringKiran Ahluwalia.
The first Canadian novel based on the incident isLions of the Sea, written byJessi Thind and published in 2001.[82] In 2011Diana Lobb citedLions of the Sea as one of the first fictionalized South Asian perspectives on theKomagata Maru in her philosophical dissertation presented to the University of Waterloo.[83] Several friends of the author suggested the title of the novel for the Sikh Heritage Museum of CanadaKomagata Maru exhibition in 2014 which was subsequently titled "Lions of the Sea: The NationalKomagata Maru Exhibition."[84]
Ajmer Rode wrote the playKomagata Maru based on the incident in 1984. In 1989, when Indo-Canadian community of British Columbia commemorated the 75th anniversary of theKomagata Maru, Sadhu Binning and Sukhwant Hundal wrote a play Samundari Sher Nal Takkar (The Battle with the Sealion) and co-edited and produced first issue of Punjabi literary magazineWatan on theKomagata Maru incident. Phinder Dulai wrote A Letter To The Maru – 1914–1994. The letter was a fictionalized narrative utilizing both public record documentation and archival material; the piece ran in 1998 in an issue ofRungh Magazine.
Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? is a 2006 novel by the Indo-Canadian writerAnita Rau Badami, it follows a woman named Bibi-ji who retraces her father's steps during the incident in Canada, with the plot being linked with other contemporary issues in India.Oh Canada, Oh Komagata Maru is a 2012 play by Alia Rehana Somani which explores memories of the incident among the Indo-Canadian community.[80]
In 2004,Ali Kazimi's feature documentaryContinuous Journey was released. This is the first in-depth film to examine the events surrounding the turning-away of theKomagata Maru. The primary source research done for the film led to the discovery of rare film footage of the ship in Vancouver harbour. Eight years in the making,Continuous Journey has won over ten awards, including the Most Innovative Canadian Documentary at DOXA, Vancouver 2005, and a Golden Conch at the Mumbai International Film Festival, 2006. Also in 2006, Kazimi assisted broadcasterJowi Taylor in obtaining a piece of red cedar from Jack Uppal's Goldwood Industries, the first Sikh-owned timber mill in British Columbia, as a way of bringing theKomagata Maru story and the story of Sikhs in Canada into theSix String Nation project. Parts of this wood now serve as kerfing strips on either side of the end block in the interior ofVoyageur, the guitar at the heart of the project.[85]
TheCBC radio playEntry Denied, by the Indo-Canadian scriptwriterSugith Varughese focuses on the incident.
In 2012, filmmaker Ali Kazimi's bookUndesirables: White Canada and the Komagata Maru was published by Douglas & McIntyre.[86]
In 2014,dream / arteries, written by Phinder Dulai, was published by Talon Books. The poetry book begins with a suite of poems that utilize archival records, public repositories, and online uploaded material never published before, including new photographs of theKomagata Maru from the Vancouver Public Library.[87]
Simon Fraser University Library launched a websiteKomagata Maru: Continuing the Journey in 2012 funded by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada under the auspices of the Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP). This website contains information and documents related to theKomagata Maru incident and a timeline that unfolds the details and supports teaching, research and knowledge about theKomagata Maru for school-aged, post-secondary and general audiences.[88]
In 2010 - FirstKomagata Maru Memorial Youth Hockey Tournament was held in Hong Kong by Punjab Youth Club (HK) in the memory of Komagata Incident. From 2011 Punjab Youth Club (HK) made in annual. In year 2023 13th KGM Memorial Hockey tournament was held in Hong Kong
Guru Nanak Jahaz, aPunjabi film based on theKomagata Maru incident and the murder ofWilliam C. Hopkinson was released in May 2025. It starsGurpreet Ghuggi asBaba Gurdit Singh,Tarsem Jassar asMewa Singh Lopoke andEdward Sonnenblick as William C. Hopkinson.[29][89]
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Record numbers of immigrants were admitted in the early 1900s when Canada was promoting the settlement of Western Canada. The highest number ever recorded was in 1913, when more than 400,000 immigrants arrived in the country.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[permanent dead link]On July 19, the angry passengers fought back with the only weapons they had. They were not armed. The quote from The Sun in Vancouver read: 'Howling masses of Hindus showered policemen with lumps of coal and bricks...it was like standing underneath a coal chute.'
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