No words can fully erase the suffering of Komagata Maru victims. Today, we apologize and recommit to doing better. pic.twitter.com/NsryzhUbp1
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 18, 2016
OTTAWA, Canada—The World Sikh Organization of Canada welcomes today’s apology by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on behalf of the Government of Canada for the Canadian Government’s decision in 1914 to refuse entry to the Komagata Maru. The ship, carrying 376 mostly Sikh passengers from Punjab, British India was turned away after two months of being refused entry at the Vancouver ports. The WSO has reached out to provincial minsters of education across Canada, calling for the Komagata Maru tragedy and the racist immigration policy behind the incident to be made part of school curricula.
The Komagata Maru and its passengers, despite being British subjects, were denied entry due to racist immigration controls established by the Canadian government to exclude non-European immigrants. In response to race riots and “anti-Asiatic” parades, driven by fears that Canada would be overrun by Asian immigration, the Canadian government passed an Order in Council in 1908 prohibiting immigration of individuals who did not come to Canada via a continuous journey from their country of birth or citizenship. In effect, this law prohibited the entry of all immigrants from India, as a continuous voyage was not possible without a stopover. Other Orders in Council also prohibited the landing of Asian immigrants that did not possess $200 upon arrival. At the same time, Canada was welcoming record levels of European immigration.
While Prime Minister Trudeau’s apology in the House of Commons recognizes the “dark chapter” the Komagata Maru incident as well as the exclusionary and racist immigration laws represent in Canadian history, it is important that this chapter is neither forgotten nor ignored. The WSO has written to provincial ministers calling for the Komagata Maru incident to be included in school curricula across the country.
WSO President Mukhbir Singh said today, “Prime Minster Trudeau’s apology in the House of Commons today is a historic moment for Canadian Sikhs and recognizes the dark chapter the Komagata Maru tragedy marks in Canada’s history. While Canada is today a model of multiculturalism and inclusivity, it is important for us to understand that it was not always. We believe it is essential that the Komagata Maru incident, as well as the anti-immigrant sentiment that fueled this incident, be made a part of our provincial education curricula. It is important that we as Canadians teach our youngsters to confront issues such as racism and xenophobia and learning about the Komagata Maru incident is an excellent opportunity to do so.”
The WSO has offered its assistance to the provincial minsters of education in providing resources to help make the Komagata Maru a part of their education curricula as well as links to existing educational materials.
We Indians could learn a great deal from the magnanimity and maturity demonstrated by the Canadians in dealing with their past injustices against the Sikhs – that’s how a true young democracy deals with its minorities and makes them feel they really belong to the country.
End of day, democracy is be-dharmic & Hindus are idiots for supporting a secular gov that merely supports christians & muslims ie worse enemies of the Panth than Hindus ever were/could be.
End of day, Hindu idiocy stops Khalsa ascendancy so they are an enemy (Shatru) however, we should not lose sight of the bigger picture.
ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ||
I don’t think Sikhs should have a fixed mindset as to which religious communities should be treated as ‘enemies’ of the Panth. At the time of Moghul persecution there were good Muslims who provided aid for their Sikh neighbours and the same was also true during the genocidal pogrom against Sikhs in Delhi 1984 for Hindus and even the Christian English were disgusted by the massacre at Amritsar of 1919 done in the name of maintaining respectful fear of the ‘superior’. All these adherents of other faiths are first and foremost human beings and deserving of respect for having been fashioned so by the One Creator of us all who will deliver final judgement on their actions. Certainly we can be wary, remember our painful history and remind them of those past injustices to prick their consciences and shame them if needs be but in the instance of Canada I am reminded of Goethe’s saying ‘A good man apologises for the mistakes of the past. A great man corrects them’. Saying sorry is important. But not doing the same damnable thing again is more important. Canada has understood that “I’m sorry” is a statement. “I won’t do it again” is a promise and “How do I make it up to you” is a responsibility with both their words in this declaration and indeed their recent actions appointing a Sikh to head their defence forces. I implore India to do as much.