Liam O'Brien
2h ago
The Komagata Maru Incident in Burrard Inlet
Transcript
On May 23, 1914, the S.S. *Komagata Maru* reached the shores of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was carrying 376 prospective Punjabi immigrants, British subjects of Indian descent, including 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus, along with its Japanese crew and a cargo of coal.
The ship was not allowed to berth, and for the next two months, government officials denied all the passengers entry into Canada. This was a challenge to Canada’s immigration policies, which discriminated on the basis of race. Canada had legislation from 1908 that tried to bar entry by requiring all migrants from India to come on a “continuous journey” from their point of origin, and the government even worked with steamship companies to end service on those routes.
A Malaysian businessman named Gurdit Singh Sarhali chartered the *Komagata Maru* to bring South Asians to Canada, specifically to combat this racist discrimination. Local newspapers in British Columbia warned of a "horde" or "influx" of Indian immigrants.
During the two months the ship was here, government officials prevented all the passengers from disembarking. The passengers were denied food and water, and the situation became desperate. At one point, on July 23rd, authorities brought in HMCS *Rainbow* to force the passengers to leave. The passengers resisted, throwing bricks and coal at the *Rainbow* crew, and the Royal Canadian Navy cruiser eventually withdrew.
A shore committee of local South Asian activists raised funds to hire a lawyer, J. Edward Bird, to defend the passengers’ rights. However, the court allowed only one case to be heard and denied entry to all passengers, except for 20 who could prove prior residency in Canada.
After two months, filled with hardships, systemic racism, and legal barriers, the passengers were forced to return to India. On July 23rd, local citizens even picnicked and hurled insults as the ship was escorted out of the inlet. The *Komagata Maru* Incident was designated a national historic event in 2014, recognizing how the passengers and their supporters challenged Canada’s racist and exclusionary immigration policies.