Why it is so important NOT to forget Komagata Maru

July 29th, 2006 by admin

Last Sunday, approximately 400 people gathered at Lumberman’s Arch in Stanley Park to commemorate the Komagata Maru, a boat which arrived in Vancouver on May 23rd, 1914. Based on authorities, the passengers violated “exclusionist laws” a strategy employed through the “Continuous Journey Provision of the Immigration Act” because the passengers did not arrive by “direct passage” from their country of origin. On July 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru was forced to return.

The purpose of the gathering according to Harbhajan Gill of the Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation, organizer of the event, was ” to remember the achievements made by our forefathers who made Canada what it is today and to remember the injustice that is still ongoing and not rectified today”.

An important part of the event was a five km walk along the seawall which provided an opportunity for socializing among families, political leaders and academics, which forged a common bond. This was followed by informative historical speeches and potential future initiatives the community could take to ensure a formal apology by the government and to remember the event as an important part of Canadian history. Representatives from the Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation, Jas Toor, academics Sohan Singh Pooni and Kanwali S. Neel, all spoke. Political representatives Surrey-Tynehead MLA and Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism and Immigration Dave Hayer, former Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal (who was the first MP who asked the government for a formal apology in the House of Commons in October, 1997) and Liberal MP for Newton-North Delta Sukh Dhaliwal (who said that he would raise the issue of a formal apology in the House of Commons) all spoke out.

As the speeches came to a close, people started leaving and unfortunately missed out on the ceremony commemorating the passengers aboard the Komagata Maru with the placing of 376 roses on a memorial plaque at the Gateway Pacific, Downtown Vancouver, that was erected in 1984 under then mayor Gordon Campbell. Gill, elderly Sikhs some youth and myself, made our way to the plaque site. I saw in the faces of the onlookers an overwhelming sense of emotion and took the opportunity to engage in open-ended interviews to capture the nostalgia of the past and the thoughts of the moment of three age cohort groups: seniors, middle-aged men and youth which I felt important to share with the community.

Three elderly Sikh men collectively said that this was personal for them and they took the time to recognize what their forefathers had suffered. They were also proud and very grateful to see the plaque. One of elderly men said he had been here for 26 years and it was the first time he had ever seen it.

Raj Sandhu said, “I feel a sense of history more now than before. I never knew this plaque existed until today and it is disappointing that our community is not promoting our history enough to youth. The struggles of our forefathers are important too and we need to know it exists.”

Paul Gill a 21-year-old volunteer at the event said, “When I thought about how much we complain about minor things, and that many people did not come to the event today because it was too hot I thought about what the pioneers of the Komagata Maru sacrificed to get here and with no food and water. We have a better life today because of them so the least that we can do is pay our respects.”

Indeed they struggled on many fronts. The passengers on board the Komagata Maru were not permitted to disembark, and at times some went without water or food during the waiting period of the passengers “right to land” in Canada.

Some of the onlookers at the memorial plaque expressed disappointment knowing that the plaque existed for 22 years and that they just learned about it that day. These individuals were not alone in their challenges with the plaque. Gill had his own struggles with the plaque and, in his case, in finding it. He told me that he first phoned the city to find out about the commemoration plaque but was forwarded to Vancouver Parks Board where all three contacts did not know where it was (but they were decent enough to call back with directions). It took Gill almost three hours to find it aftere what turned out to be a treasure hunt. This week however, the memorial plaque drew much attention as people who went out for lunch saw the 376 roses and according to Gill, they actually read it. Carla Frater said, “I have been having lunch here for a couple of weeks and the roses did make me aware of the plaque”.

Today the existing plaque is isolated from the water and the goal according to Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green in October, 2005, was to “work with the Vancouver Trade and convention Centre and to create an appropriate memorial in the public plazas overlooking Burrard inlet”. At this point however, on speaking with Vancouver Parks and Board Arts and Culture, they have not been approached with a follow-up plan (to their knowledge).

Why all this hype about a memorial plaque? A key function of such a plaque is to “remember” and to “learn” from the past. Dr. Karin Doerr from Concordia University in Montreal who has been working on Holocaust related issues told me that “the culture of commemoration of victimization, the symbols of public mourning, and even the language of the remembering of tragic events lie rooted in how the world has dealt with the horrors of Holocaust in a postwar era.” And so, any aspect of history is important- even a tragic one from which much can be learned.

First, it allows people to learn about what their forefathers went through and to count their blessings because they are privileged to be born into a “democratic and more just society” and today our Canadian laws protect every individual under our Charter of Human rights.

Secondly we learn about politics, especially how institutional racist laws have been played out to exclude individuals who have been “racially profiled” and deemed a threat to the cultural fabric of Canadian society. Memorial plaques should help us to focus on what we can do to ensure that the lesson about institutional racism in our history is not repeated or suppressed in our educational curriculum or in the media.

Sadly, the lack of acknowledgement of the commemoration of the Komagata Maru event in the mainstream media newspapers was a great disappointment. An inside source informed me that the Vancouver Sun was given the pre-event story but decided to report on a story entitled “Sikhs fear return to violence in temple election” which, put bluntly, in some way and once again, denounces South Asians as a “social problem”. Such exclusion can inadvertently lead people to trivialize or undermine the initiatives made by people in the community that focus on remembering important lessons from Canadian history today and in the transmission of knowledge about South Asian experiences in the history of Canada.

The Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation according to Gill hopes “to make everyone aware of this important part of our history, educate kids about our heritage and build a replica of the ship that could be used as a library museum memorial not only for South Asians but for all Canadians.”

Events like the Komagata Maru are what form Canada’s unique heritage and it should be absolutely essential to include it more in our formal educational curriculum and in other events. Regardless of the racism that was performed, the people in the community will be united as one and would experience a stronger sense of “cultural unity” through greater exposure of “maps of historical meaning” so they can achieve greater cohesion within themselves and within Canadian society.

By: INDIRA PRAHST, Instructor of Race and Ethnic Relations, Department of Sociology, Langara College
Source: The Voice Online (www.voiceonline.com)

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