Year-long Centenary commemoration of Komagata Maru incident inaugurated in New Delhi

As a tribute to the heroic struggle of Indian immigrants against discriminatory immigration laws of Canada in the early years of twentieth century, the Government of India (GoI) has decided to commemorate the centenary of Komagata Maru incident on completion of 100 years after the incident.

The inaugural function of the year-long centenary commemoration was organised here today by the Union Ministry of Culture.

Three granddaughters of Baba Gurdit Singh, the hero of the episode - Harbhajan Kaur, Satwant Kaur and Balbir Kaur were honoured by Culture Minister Shripad Naik on the occasion.

A set of commemorative coins of denominations of Rs. 100 and Rs. 5 was released to mark the occasion.

Speaking at the inauguration of the year-long commemoration, Naik said, "By commemorating Komagata Maru we commemorate not only the 376 Indians on board the ship the Komagata Maru but also all the Indians who have since the early decades of the last century landed in the shores of other countries in search of greener pastures. It reminds us of a huge and vital role played by those who lived away from the country but kept bonds with India intact and alive."

He added, "The overseas Indian community now constitutes a diverse, heterogeneous and eclectic global community representing different regions, languages, cultures and faiths. The common thread that binds them together is the idea of India and its intrinsic values."

He said, that Centre has constituted a National Implementation Committee to chalk out programmes to be taken up during the period starting today till September 29, 2015.

On May 23, 1914, Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamer, carrying 376 passengers from Hong Kong, mostly being immigrants from Punjab, British India, arrived in Vancouver, Canada. It was denied docking by the Canadian authorities.

Following a two months stalemate, the ship was escorted out of the harbour by the Canadian Military and forced to sail back to India. The Komagata Maru arrived in Calcutta in September, 1914.

The British Government ruling the country at that time saw the men on Komagata Maru as dangerous political agitators.

The police went aboard the ship this day on 1914 to arrest Baba Gurdit Singh and other leaders. The arrest was resisted by the passengers which led to police firing in which 19 passengers were killed. Baba Gurdit Singh escaped along with many others. The rest of the passengers were sent to Punjab.