The City of Brampton in Ontario has beat Surrey to dedicate a memorial to the Komagata Maru tragedy where the Canadian government refused to let in 376 Indians – commonwealth subjects -into Canada in 1914. Brampton opened the Komagata Maru Memorial Park last week which was attended by Komagata Maru descent family member Raj Toor of Komgata Maru Society. “It’s a great tribute to those passengers who suffered a lot during the tragedy. Their sacrifice and struggle is recognized by the City Of Brampton Council. Descendants of the Komgata Maru families and south Community is happy. All the Canadian are happy . It’s a Canadian history,” said Toor, who was officially invited by Brampton City Council and mayor Patrick Brown.” We can’t undo the past . We can move forward and leave a legacy for the future generation by educating them about the past. Places like this park will educate the entire community and make us all richer in awareness of how special a place Canada is to have so many different ethnic communities living together. And with this knowledge we can build a better world free from racism,” Toor added. The City of Surrey has also committed to honour the Komagata Maru passengers’ memory with a memorial in the city.
The Komagata Maru, a chartered Japanese ship, which set off from Hong Kong on April 4 had reached the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia on May 22, 1914. But, nearly all of the 376 passengers — 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus—were denied entry. The ship remained docked at the harbour for two months in hope of clearance of the immigrants before it was eventually forced by the hostile Canadian immigration authorities to return to India. The opening of the Komagata Memorial Maru Park was hosted by Mayor Brown and the city councillors, including Gurpreet Dhillon, Paul Vicente and Harkirat Singh on Saturday. The park is situated next to the Springdale Branch Library and will have a playground, splash pad, picnic area, shade structure, as well as a garden and a water feature.
