Komagata Maru

                                                                                                                                            
S Balakrishnan
At this time when the Indo-Canadian relation is at its low ebb due to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist leader living in Canada, it would be relevant to look back into the “Komagata Maru” incident of 1914; because it  mainly involved 337 Sikhs who were sent back by Canada on racial grounds, a 110 years ago.  Canada was then presumed to be “a white man’s country”.
The 3000-ton SS Komagata Maru, a Japan registered ship, was chartered by Gurdit Singh Sirhali from Hong Kong to take hopeful Indian immigrants to Canada. He was a wealthy Sikh in his mid-50s and had business in Malaya and Singapore. The ship sailed from Hong Kong on 4th April 1914 (when World War I was already simmering); it picked up Indians at Shanghai and two Japanese ports, and the final tally of passengers was 376, all Punjabis (Sikhs  about 337, Muslims about 27 and Hindus about 12), with just two women and four children. Most of them were from rich landowning families. On board, these passengers received intense political education.
After 47 days, Komagata Maru arrived in Canadian waters on 21st May 1914 and anchored in Vancouver’s harbor on 23rd May. Except 20 returning passengers and a few special cases, others were not allowed to disembark. Also, communication with the outside world was blocked, preventing their attempts to approach the Canadian court; food & water was denied except when it became desperate. Komagata Maru was a good size for the times and it was well equipped, possessing electric lighting and running water but it did not have desalination equipment. After a month’s standoff, it was decided to approach the British Columbia Court of Appeal. But the judgement was in favour of the Canadian Government. Therefore, the passengers under the leadership of Gurdit Singh decided to leave Canadian waters; they did not have the resources and energy to take up the case to the Canadian Supreme Court  and then to the Judicial Committee of the British Privy Council in London.
At last, on 23rd July 1914, 355 disappointed passengers sailed away from Canadian waters after Canada agreed to provide provisions only up to Hong Kong. The ship stopped at Yokohama, Kobe, and Singapore (where some passengers got off) and finally reached the Indian port of Budge Budge near Kolkata on 29th September 1914 with 321 passengers, by which time WW I had flared up. En route, the passengers had contacts with German diplomats and also exchanged signals with Emden, the notorious ship of the Germans that was sinking British ships.
On disembarking, the British government wanted to pack them off straight to Punjab in a specially commissioned train; the unwilling and protesting passengers were fired upon, resulting in the death of 20 of them.  27 passengers escaped the police net. The hapless passengers of Komagata Maru were labelled terrorists by the colonial British.  The Komagata Maru incident was a noteworthy chapter in the history of the independence struggle in India that highlighted the second class status of the citizens of the British colonies.
As the centenary of the Komagata Maru incident approached, Canadian Sikhs sought for an official apology. Finally, on 18 May 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized for the incident at the House of Commons: “Today — while knowing that no words can fully erase the pain and suffering experienced by the passengers — I offer a sincere apology on behalf of the government for the laws in force at the time that allowed Canada to be indifferent to the plight of the passengers of the Komagata Maru.”  In 2012, a memorial was dedicated to the Komagata Maru’s passengers at Coal Harbour in Vancouver. In May 2021, the City of Vancouver apologized for the Komagata Maru incident.  Interestingly, the great-great granddaughter of Gurdit Singh, Nimrat Randhawa (who had migrated to Canada in 2003), was present with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he apologised for the Komagata Maru incident at a public event, earlier.
Then again, on the centenary of the Komagata Maru incident in 2014, there was a young Sikh who was the Minister of Multiculturalism for Canada. Also, later, when the apology finally came in Parliament, Canada had four Sikh Ministers, including the Minister of Defence who was the first Sikh person to lead a regiment in Canada, the same regiment that turned away the passengers of the Komagata Maru!
How did I come across this incident? While organising my coin collection I found a 5 rupee coin issued in 2014 commemorating the centenary of the Komagata Maru incident. On closer inspection of the coin I realised it was not India's maritime achievement (as I had imagined) but on Komagata Maru. What is Komagata Maru? I researched further and the result is this ‘historical’ piece.
The writer can be reached at krishnanbala2004@yahoo.co.in