:dateline:The significance is not lost on Harjit Sajjan, a Sikh, that the regiment he now commands is the same that was involved in forcing the Komagata Maru out of Vancouver Harbour 100 years ago. �Our regiment remembers it as a black mark on our history,� he says in an interview. �It shouldn�t have happened.� Lieutenant-Colonel Sajjan became the first Sikh to head a Canadian regiment when he was promoted to commanding officer of the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught�s Own) in 2011.
His appointment, he says, shows how much Canada has grown in the past century. �There are scars on our history, but we can�t dwell on that past, and we can�t change it. We must learn from it,� he says. �The best way to learn from it is to ask ourselves if we�ve made change � and we have made change. My sitting here is that greatest example of it.�
Growing up in Vancouver as a Sikh immigrant from India�s Punjab, Lt.-Col Sajjan knew the story of the Komagata Maru well. It left its mark. �We were used to these types of stories. Back then there was a lot of direct racism so we thought it was normal that this type of incident could happen.�
Sikhs believe in service � to both community and God � and have a historic reputation for being fearless and devoted soldiers. But Lt.-Col. Sajjan says his desire to serve was first met with skepticism. �When I was growing up, I didn�t even think I was allowed to join the military,� he says. �When I first joined [in 1989] there was a lot of racism in the armed forces. One unit didn�t even accept me.�
Lt.-Col Sajjan believes that only in a nation like Canada could we see the cause of diversity advance so quickly from the events of the Komagata Maru. �This didn�t happen that long ago, and progress has been made. It is a historical milestone from which we can measure change,� he says. �I look at our diversity in Canada as an example for the rest of the world. If we don�t succeed with it, it will not succeed anywhere else.�
