Racists Again Deface Komagata Maru Memorial A Day Before The 100 Year Anniversary Of Its Arrival!
VANCOUVER – Racism continues to haunt the ghosts of the Komagata Maru, who suffered the most extreme racism during Canada’s institutionalized racist past and many who paid with their lives upon the ship’s return to India.
First a man with mental health issues openly urinated on the monument and insulted Indo-Canadians who had come to pay tribute to the monument at Vancouver Harbour and now the memorial commemorating one of the most racist black marks on Canadian history has been vandalized and that too, a day before the community celebrated 100th anniversary of the ship’s arrival in Vancouver on Friday, May 23..
One of the graffiti messages reads: “Owen is gay.”
The messages have been removed, but the cleaning process has damaged the rust patina on one of the panels – leaving behind a whitewashed effect, reported CTV.
As a result, the entire element, consisting of several connected panels, is to be cleaned on Thursday according to the specifications of the landscape architect. This should even out the effect, and over time the steel should rust as it did before.
This latest defacing comes several months after a man was investigated for urinating on the memorial.
Vancouver police said the actions were “reprehensible,” but not considered a crime under the Criminal Code.
A Hate Crimes Unit investigated the incident and said the unnamed man, who has mental health issues, didn’t understand the significance of the memorial when he urinated on it.
An anniversary ceremony is planned at the memorial in Harbour Green Park in Coal Harbour Friday.
Anyone with information about the latest incident is asked to contact Vancouver police.
A planned ceremony by the City of Vancouver at the monument took place Friday, making the need to even out the panels urgent. “Time is of the essence,” said Park Board chair Aaron Jasper.
Jasper pointed out that the monument is in a high-traffic area – in Harbour Green Park overlooking Coal Harbour where the Komagata Maru anchored – and said there has been no discussion about increased monitoring of monuments and public art in Vancouver parks.
“That would be quite an undertaking,” Jasper said.
Comments are closed.