OTTAWA – “Today we bore witness to a historical event that has been long overdue. The Canadian people received a statement from the Canadian government recognizing the historical wrong that was done to the people of the Indian sub-continent,” Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation said in a press release.
“A society that does not recognize and make amends for its mistakes is bound by destiny to repeat them over and over again.
“The Komagata Maru incident, organized by the members of the Gadar party was a part of a secular movement for human and civil rights steeped in the dignity and respect of the common person. It was part of an international struggle against colonialism that had deep ties with diverse groups including the radical women’s rights movement, the Chinese democratic movements, the struggles of the people’s in the middle east, and Irish and Scottish peoples’ amongst others.
“We recognize that that struggle of the common person continues today with the struggles of the first nations people’s in Canada, the plight of the common people in Syria, Palestine and Iraq and the situation we face with imminent environmental disaster.
“For over 2 decades the Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation has worked to obtain an official House of Commons apology from a Canadian Government for the events related to the Komagata Maru incident.
“When Prime Minister Trudeau visited our annual Festival in Bear Creek Park in Surrey BC on August 3 2014 – on the affair’s 100th Anniversary – and promised a formal apology, we knew our work would finally be done.
“After 102 long years, the story of these early South Asian pioneers will be enshrined in our national public record.
“We would like to thank the Right Honourable Prime Minister for keeping his promise, and for making this date a historic one for all the generations of South Asian migrants to Canada.”
