Raj Singh Toor is one of the descendants of the Komagata Maru and spokesperson for the Descendants of Komagata Maru Society.
The Komagata Maru came in May 23, 1914, with 376 passengers including my grandfather, Baba Puran Singh Janetpura. He was a well-educated student in that ship, having studied at an English-Language High School in Ludhiana, Punjab, and had studied telecommunication at the University of Amethi. He was coming in Canada for higher education.
He was told at the time that any Indian was part of the British Common Wealth and would be welcome to study further in Canada. They were British subjects and they were also holding British passports. They were not illegal immigrants.
He told us the Canadian government denied entry and did not treat them very well. No food, water and medication was provided by the government. Only the local Sikh community provided them with food, water and medication.
The Mayor of Vancouver and other leaders were making racist comments and the media were making racist comments as well. The Komagata Maru was sent back to India after two months forcefully under the shadow of military ship by discriminatory law.
The British were ruling India at that time, when Komagata Maru arrived in India. British troops shot them, 20 were killed on the spot, many were injured and the rest of them were put in jail for long period of time. My grandfather served about five years jail term, when he was released, the government put him on restriction so he could not go out from his village.
In protest, most of the passengers joined the freedom movement including my grandfather. Finally India got free in 1947.
Komagata Maru was the turning point in the India freedom movement. My grandfather was recognized by the Punjab, India government for his services and he played an active role in the India freedom movement.
Around 1968, my uncle sponsored my grandfather to come to Canada, but he refused. He said that he had a painful, bitter memory of Canada. He said that he would not go there, but the South Asian community would go there and would be very successful there, and live happily and peacefully there. His word came true. Today the South Asian community is living very successfully, happily, and peacefully here.
Descendants of the Komgata Maru Society was lobbying and working for more then 10 years for the Komagata Maru Apology and we never asked for any compensation.
The BC Goverment did apologize for this incident in the BC Legislature Building. I did witness this apology. The Federal Goverment did apologize for this incident in the House of Commons on May 18, 2016. Before the federal election, I had a couple of meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and I asked him, “If you form the government, would you apologize for the Komagata Maru incident?” He said, “Yes, Mr Toor.”
The Prime Minister office sent us the official invitation to witness the Komagata Maru apology in the House of Commons. We went there and sat in the speaker gallery front of the Prime Minister. Trudeau apologized to the descendants of the Komagata Maru and the South Asian community. He gave us a respectful and a formal apology.
As the descendants of Komagata Maru, we are very happy, as during the tragedy, those 376 passengers suffered a lot and their struggle and sacrifice was recognized in the House of Commons.
The consul general of India, Vancouver Ravi Shankar Aisola invited the descendants of the Komagata Maru families. He presented to us a certificate and honours on May 18, 2015. The certificate stated "providing invaluable service in preserving the legacy of the Komagata Maru".
The Komagata Maru incident of 1914 was recognized as an event of national historic significance with National Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan unveiling a commemorative plaque from the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Descendants of the Komagata Maru families were invited to the Vancouver Komagata Maru monument site.
The Komagata Maru and the South Asian Community's history is 100 year old Canadian history, this history should be taught in the schools, universities and museums. We cannot undo the past but we can move forward and leave a legacy for the future generations by educating them about the past. They are going to be future ministers and prime ministers so they will learn from the history they will not repeat the history again.
My grandfather used to say one day you could be rich, the next day you could be poor. You could lose everything, but the one thing that no one can take away is your education. So give more education to your children. As my grandfather said, the more education you give to society the less discrimination there will be.
He passed away in 1974. In 1976 for his legacy and his memory, the Punjab government and family built a hospital in his village Janetpura. About 6 villages near this hospital use their medical services.
