Canada to fund Komagata Maru projects to appease Indo-Canadians

VANCOUVER - In a move to appease the influential Indo-Canadian community, the Canadian government has announced it would fund two projects here to commemorate the tragic Komagata Maru incident whose 100th anniversary is just three years hence.

The Komagata Maru was a Japanese ship hired by a Malaysia-based wealthy Sikh Gurdit Singh in 1914 to forcibly bring 376 Indians, mostly Sikhs, into Canada to challenge racist laws of that time. But when the ship reached Vancouver via Hong Kong, its passengers were not allowed to disembark for two months and then forcibly sent back to India where 20 were shot dead by police on arrival in Kolkata.

Though Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a public apology at a Punjabi mela here three years ago, the Sikh community has been insisting on a formal apology in the Canadian parliament.

Now to mark the centenary of the Komagata Maru event, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has announced to fund two projects in Vancouver.

“The story of the Komagata Maru is an event in our history that did not do us proud. Prime Minister Harper was the first Prime Minister in Canadian history to recognize the tragic nature of the Komagata Maru incident. He is also the first prime minister to apologize to the Indo-Canadian community for it,” the minister said here.

“The government of Canada is committed to recognizing the experiences of the Indo-Canadian community and other communities affected by immigration restrictions applied in Canada’s past.

“Canadians of South Asian origin have made enormous contributions to building Canada,” the immigration minister added.

Since the local Khalsa Diwan Society - which is the oldest gurdwara in Canada - had deposited the ‘entry fee’ of $15,000 for the ship in those day, it will receive $82,500 to work with the Vancouver Parks Board to design a monument to commemorate the Komagata Maru.

To be located near where the Komagata Maru anchored in 1914, the monument will be in the form of a replica of the ship and include the names of passengers and related photographs.

The society will also receive $104,000 to develop the first phase of a museum dedicated to the incident, the minister said.

The museum will be built on the premises of the Khalsa Diwan Society - which is also known by the name of Ross Street Gurdwara in Canada.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)