As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gets ready to offer a full apology in the House of Commons on May 18^th for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, the incident has been in the forefront of many discussions. This surprise announcement from him reminds us of a part of Indian history, Indian immigrants and obviously discriminatory rules of erstwhile British Columbia aka Canada.  Justin Trudeau on the auspicious occasion of Baisakhi remarked," “The passengers of Komagata Maru, like millions of immigrants since, were seeking refuge and a better life for their families. With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada and we failed them utterly. As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community by the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not.” Although former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had apologized for the incident in a 2008 speech in Surrey, British Columbia, members of the Sikh community in Canada rejected it outright as they wanted a full apology in the House of Commons. This Canadian apology comes at a time when the whole of Europe is divided on the issue of granting refugee status to those Syrian immigrants amidst ISIS atrocities. This announcement is also significant as Canada itself is a centre of Sikh Diaspora.

In the early years of the 20th century, many Punjabi men from the Northern part of undivided India, migrated to British Columbia and also along the Pacific Coast of the United States. The wages given in British Columbia were much higher than those in India. The South Asian contingents sent letters to their relatives, friends encouraging them to follow. In the beginning the numbers were small, but gradually the situation changed as more and more Indians shifted for better work opportunities. Incidentally racial and cultural prejudice from various quarters prompted strong opposition from various American and Canadian circles. Thus vigorous campaign against Chinese and Japanese immigration and also against Punjabis and other South Asians reached its peak. In this scenario, Canada stopped immigration in 1908 whereas United States followed the same steps in 1910. Both the countries enforced ruthless regulation to thwart all such Asian immigration. Incidentally, the continuous journey clause of the immigration law prohibited landing of any immigrant who didn't come to Canada from their native country by 'continuous journey'. The Continuous Passage Act categorically read, “Immigrants may be prohibited from landing or coming into Canada unless they come from the country of their birth, or citizenship, by a continuous journey and on through tickets purchased before leaving the country of their birth, or citizenship.”

On May 23, 1914, a cargo steamship named Komagata Maru sailed into Burrard Inlet in British Columbia, Canada where the Vancouver harbor is located. The vessel was owned by a Japanese company. It was hired by a Singapore based businessman named Gurdit Singh. There were 376 passengers on board and they were from Punjab — 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus.  Those passengers came in batches at the ship's departure at Hong Kong on April 4, the same year. Many joined in Shanghai and Yokohama too. Unfortunately the authorities in Vancouver did not allow the passengers to disembark. Even after two months of continuous negotiation between passengers and the Canadian authorities, the Canada immigration officials didn't change their decision. There were five children and two women on board and all the passengers faced extreme starvation. Finally on July 23, the Komagata Maru ship was finally turned away. Only 24 passengers were allowed to enter Canada. Having no other feasible option, the ship made its way back to India and was docked at Budge Budge on river Hooghly near erstwhile Calcutta on September 27. Incidentally, the British Government officials were well aware of the situation. They took this case as a matter of sedition and considered some passengers to be members of the revolutionary outfit Ghadar Party. The police open fired on the starved passengers and 19 of them were killed and the remaining were jailed. 

It can be said, that the Canadian apology and that too from the Canadian PM is indeed a welcome sign. Not only looking at it from Indian sentiments, this decision is certainly going to improve Indo-Canada bipartisan relations. As expected, it would make Canada PM Justin Trudeau a more acceptable face to the Sikh Diaspora in Canada. Presently the whole world is facing an immigration crisis. In such a situation of great despair, the honest Canadian apology for an unprecedented incident 100 years back, is indeed an example of sensibility and true statesmanship.