Canada unveils stamp honouring victims
of Komagata Maru tragedy
By NOUMAN KHALIL
Joined
by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Brampton Springdale MP Parm Gill
Tuesday (May 6) unveiled a Komagata Maru stamp to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of a 1914 tragedy.
On March 23, 1914, a ship (Komagata Maru) with 376 passengers onboard —
340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus — arrived from India at Vancouver
Harbour, but authorities didn’t allow passengers to disembark and denied
them entry into Canada.
After eight weeks of standoff, the ship was escorted out of Canadian
waters and forced to sail back to India. Passengers encountered hostile
British authorities, who suspected them of being members of the
revolutionary Ghadar Party.
Some 20 people died of hunger while the remaining 356 were put behind
the bars.
In 2008, the Harper government secured a unanimous motion in the
Parliament to recognize the Komagata Maru tragedy and apologized to
those who were directly affected. On behalf of Canadians, the prime
minister also apologized to the passengers and those affected by the
tragic incident.
As part of the apology, the government also announced $2.5 million
dollars in funding to build a monument, a museum, write books, plays,
and websites that help commemorate and raise awareness of this event.
“Since being elected I have been working with members of the community
to find ways of commemorating this black mark in our Canadian history,
said Gill. “I advocated the creation of this stamp to continue our
Government’s efforts to commemorate this tragedy.
“There will be many opportunities to attend events to mark the 100th
anniversary, and I encourage all Canadians to take the time to remember
those who lost their lives and the families that were affected by this
tragedy,” Gill stated.
Later, the government also celebrated Vaisakhi on Parliament Hill.
“It’s wonderful to be with all of you, friends, at this special time of
year,” said Harper.
“I am honoured to join again with you and Sikhs around the world in
marking Vaisakhi, the start of a new year and the anniversary of that
time when Guru Gobind Singh Ji established the Khalsa, the body of pure
ones, thereby founding one of the world’s great religions.”
Harper also paid tribute to Private Buckam Singh, an Indian-born
Canadian soldier of the First World War, and said it was unfortunate
that he faced discrimination in Canada.
