Indian Immigration In Canada The Komagata Maru

Overview

The Komagata Maru was a Japanese steamship which set sail in 1914 from British Hong Kong to arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia. The ship was carrying 337 Sikhs, 27 Muslims and 12 Hindus, primarily men, by way of Punjab, British India, who were attempting to emigrate in Canada (Hugh Johnston, 2018). Of these passengers, only 24 were allowed entry, while the remainder were denied access ashore, finding themselves confined to the ship in Canadian waters. This case can be characterized as one of the most profound incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history to date (Kaur, 2012).

Arrival in Vancouver

The passengers aboard the Komagata Maru, chartered by Sikh businessman Gurdit Singh (Kaur, 2012), saw themselves as free agents within the British Empire and assumed freedom to move and immigrate to land enclosed by those borders, including Canada (Roy, 2016). However, the passengers were very unprepared for the extreme measures taken by Canadian authorities to inhibit their entry (Hugh Johnston, 2018).

Subsequently, a lengthy confrontation was ignited between the passengers and immigration authorities, who applied various tactics to try and have the passengers leave voluntarily (Hugh Johnston, 2018). They made many efforts, including limiting their food and water supplies, blocking their communication outside the ship, and interjected in the passengers attempts to make a case to a Canadian court. Their refusal to comply in turn culminated in the authorities forcefully attempting to gain control of the ship through a police boarding party.

Many of the passengers had South Asian relatives on land who did their very best to help them in any way- lawyers were hired, efforts were made to negotiate with officials, and when conditions became exceedingly grave, they also sent food and water to their friends and family (Hugh Johnston, 2018). Indians living in Vancouver also formed the Shore Committee of Indians, and tried to fighting for the passengers for the right to enter Canada (Kaur, 2012).

One month following arrival, the British Columbia Court of Appeal took a case after both parties finally agreed to do so (Hugh Johnston, 2018). The case proceeded rapidly, but closed with a verdict in favour of the Canadian government and in opposition to the passengers: the court found no grounds for the passengers to be given entry within Canadian or British law. The passengers had no network or resources to make an appeal and forgo with a long legal battle, thus they defeatedly accepted the decision made.

Departure to India and its Aftermath

Ensuing the court's decision, the passengers departure was deferred for another several weeks, after which the Canadian government finally agreed to provision the ships return only as far as Hong Kong (Hugh Johnston, 2018). On the 23 of July, the Komagata Maru and its disheartened passengers were forcibly escorted out of the port by the S.S. Rainbow, a Canadian naval frigate, after an extensive two months, and began their long journey back to Asia (Kaur, 2012).

On the way back, the ship encountered a long delay in Japan, and while there, some of the passengers disembarked the Komagata Maru (Hugh Johnston, 2018). On the 21 of September, 321 of the 355 original passengers arrived at the Indian port of Budge Budge near Kolkata.

With World War I well under way at this point, tensions intensified as these were fragile times for India and any potential opponents of the British; British officials in India were troubled by the thought of unloyalty from their Indian subjects (Hugh Johnston, 2018). These immense concerns established a deep rooted mistrust in the Indians, which was clearly reflected in their dealings with the Komagata Maru’s arrival in Kolkata. Immediately after disembarkment, 20 passengers were brutally killed by British Indian troops and police- they were not allowed to disband within Kolkata and were involuntarily coerced into to boarding a train to Punjab.

Proceeding the horrible violence, some passengers managed to escape and avoid arrest, while those who declined the orders were either killed, kept under surveillance (Roy, 2016) or unjustly thrown into a Kolkata prison, enduring unimaginable conditions (Hugh Johnston, 2018). They stayed in the prison until the Indian government conducted an inquiry into the event, but by then, it was too late to reverse the false reputation constructed about the Komagata Maru passengers: dangerous and uncontrollable rebels.

Indian Immigration in Canada

Creating reform to the existing laws in Canada was a long-standing, slow process, but the Indians in British Columbia were patient and hopeful of the change that would one day be made.

The definitions of citizenship and national identity were challenged by the Komagata Maru passengers- their status as British subjects contradicted the fact that they were denied basic rights, employment and land while in Canada (Roy & Sahoo, 2016). Sikhs were characterized as strangers- “hateful and feared the way slimy is”, greatly inhibiting any sort of advancement in society they attempted to make. The spontaneous surges in Indian immigrants elicited huge riots in 1907, and in turn, drastic laws were drafted to reduce these numbers (Chakraborty, 2016). Of the 2.5 million Indian immigrants who tried to enter Canada, only 5300 were accepted between 1905 and 1914. These notions highlighted the implicit feelings of exclusion Canada had towards immigrants, and enforced the idea of a “White Canada” they so achingly wished to maintain.

Many years later, change was seen in the distance; in 1947, two discriminatory Orders in Council were revoked (Kaur, 2012) and that same year, South Asians were finally given the right to vote and were able to hold jobs in public offices, law and pharmacy. Gradual reformations were seen following 1947 in an effort to cleanse Canada of its history of racial discrimination. In 1971, The Official Multiculturalism Act was passed under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s government, and a multiculturalism minister was appointed the year after. A Canadian Multiculturalism Council and a Multiculturalism Branch in the Department of the Secretary of State was also instituted in 1973. These new laws aided in the doubling of the South Asian population within Canada, with the national census recording 6774 Indians in 1961, and 67 925 in 1971- numbers have steadily increased since then.

Legacy

With its centenary anniversary approaching, Canadian Sikhs pressed for a long awaited apology, and in August 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an insufficient address at a fair in Surrey, British Columbia, with complaints of it not being an appropriate time or setting (Kaur, 2012).

On May 18, 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a formal apology in the House of Commons (Hugh Johnston, 2018):

“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.”

References

Chakraborty, S. R. (2016). The journey of komagata maru: Conjuncture, memory and history.South Asian Diaspora, 8(2), 111. 10.1080/19438192.2016.1165929

Hugh Johnston, R. The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2006). Komagata Maru. Retrieved March 4, 2018, from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/komagata-maru/

Kaur, R. (2012). The komagata maru in history and literary narrative: Cultural memory, representation, and social justice. South Asian Popular Culture, 10(2), 151. 10.1080/14746689.2012.682867

Roy, A. G. (2016). Making and unmaking of strangers - the komagata maru episode and the alienation of sikhs as undesirable persons. Sikh Formations, 12(1), 67-86. 10.1080/17448727.2016.1147171

Roy, A. G., & Sahoo, A. K. (2016). The journey of the komagata maru: National, transnational, diasporic. South Asian Diaspora, 8(2), 85. 10.1080/19438192.2016.1221201