The Legacy Of The Komagata Maru

Hello People,

I recently started learning about BC’s less known and less pretty history. In this blog I will be focussing pan the legacy of the Komagata Maru. To start off I learned about the Komagata Maru with some videos and listening to some lectures by my teachers with my class. Then to get a more in depth learning experience of the story my class and I went to a Sikh temple which also had a museum focused on the Komagata Maru Legacy. 

The Komagata Maru was a ship full of Punjabi men from the ages 18-30. In 1914 the passengers were aboard the ship coming from Hong Kong to Canada, specifically a port in BC. a lot of them were looking to come here to earn higher wages and to bring back money for their families back home. When they arrived none of the passengers were allowed ashore, aside from a few returning residents. These people on the ship had been at sea for almost two months. As time went on the Canadian government was changing its laws and policies as to get the ship to leave. They were limiting the ships communication with the outside world, blocking attempts to take their case to Canadian government and not supplying food to ship. After 2 months of struggling for the right to come on land and live in Canada, they were sent back home. When they arrived back in India there were troubles at shore, shots were fired and 20 of the passengers were killed, the rest were rounded up and put into prison.

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Making the apology to the South Asian communities in Canada tells the people currently living in South Asian communities that we recognize the trauma they had to go through and that we understand that it was Canadians citizens and the Canadian government who caused the hardships people had to go through as members of the South Asian communities in Canada. An apology is a turning point for all but it is not an end, it is just the beginning to changing and recognizing what needs to happen for recovery and reconciliation. This event was something that was forgotten by many Canadians and was not taught in many schools or programs, but it was remembered by many if not all South Asians. The Komagata Maru is remembered as an important event, it is not just recognized as one event, the legacy of the Komagata Maru helps relate to the issue of racism that still need to be dealt with and acknowledged today. It represents the struggles they faced and the fight they made for their rights and freedoms.

 

It’s been a long time since the Komagata Maru legacy and it took a long time for the official apology to come out but it will still take more time for things to change for the better and for all to be more inclusive. When you look into the past it’s a lot easier to point out and acknowledge the rights and wrongs than it is to critique the rights and wrongs of the present. 

Justin Trudeau made an official apology for the Komagata Marie incident.

I think the individual experiences and all the events that caused those experiences should be memorialized for the public to remember and acknowledge but I think the people in the South Asian communities should decide what they want people to remember and what they want people to recognize and never forget. Thank you for reading this post on the Legacy of the Komagata Maru. 

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