VPD arrests alleged Komagata Maru memorial vandal

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 ‘We do not wish to dwell on the pain of the past. Instead, we are grateful to the Vancouver Police for taking this vandalism very seriously’ — Raj Toor

VANCOUVER – Vancouver Police have arrested the man who allegedly defaced a memorial to passengers of the Komagata Maru last summer.

VPD officers located and arrested Yuniar Kurniawan in the Downtown Eastside on Monday night. Kurniawan was charged with one count of mischief in January, and had been wanted on a BC-wide warrant prior to his arrest.

The charge stems from a VPD investigation that was launched on August 22, 2021, when the Komagata Maru memorial, located in Coal Harbour, was defaced with white paint, hand prints, and graffiti. The memorial honours passengers who were aboard the Komagata Maru when the ship was denied entry to Vancouver after sailing here from India in 1914.

The announcement has evoked emotional as well optimistic response from the community especially those who are directly related to the tragic incident of 1914. 

Raj Toor is the spokesperson and founder of Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society,an organization of families all over Canada, who are direct descendants of the passengers from the ship named Komagatu Maru.

Toor recalling the act of vandalism said, “The defacing of the Komagata Maru Memorial in August last year was a very terrible incident and was a very sad thing to see. For the last century, our families have had to live with the experience of being rejected from Canada because of our race, and it is memorials such as these that help us deal with the pain and damage of racism. 

When these memorials are defaced, the painful memories of intolerance and racism come back.  

He also added that “we do not wish to dwell on the pain of the past. Instead, we are grateful and thankful to the Vancouver Police for taking this vandalism very seriously, and investing their time and today police arrest suspect who allegedly vandalized Komagata Maru memorial in Vancouver.”

Last summer multiple online and media reports began showing white paint splattered on the memorial, located on the seawall in Coal Harbour. The graffiti, which included multiple white hand-prints, covered the names of people who had been aboard the ship.

Although the vandalism was not initially reported to police, a team of investigators was able to gather important evidence from the scene and identify a suspect after people began discussing the crime on social media.

Explaining VPD’s response, Sergeant Steve Addison said, “The crime reverberated throughout the community because of what this memorial reveals about our past and the steps we have taken to become a more inclusive community,” said. “We promised to do everything in our power to solve this crime, and we’re pleased that evidence has led us to a criminal charge.”

The defacing of the Komagata Maru Memorial is a reminder that we still have a lot of work to do, but the diligent work of the Vancouver Police does give us hope that even in the dark days we are still making progress to building a more tolerant Canada.