Release of the Komagata Maru Commemorative Stamp

On 23rd of May 1914, A Japanese Ship by the name of Komagata Maru came to the shores of Vancouver carrying 376 immigrants from India. The passengers had all the legal rights to enter Canada since Canada was a British colony and all the passengers were British Subjects. The immigration authorities however, refused to let them enter and tried everything to force the ship out of Canadian waters. A lengthy legal battle ensued for two months during which the British Columbia government denied basic amenities like food and water to the passengers. The court ruled in favour of the government and the ship was forced to go back to India.

When the ship reached India on September 29th, 1914, the British troops, fearing that the ship was carrying revolutionaries and seditious material, opened fire on the passengers killing 20 of them. There was horrible violence in Vancouver following the Komagata maru incident, The Indians living in Vancouver extracted revenge by killing immigration officer William Hopkinson and his stooge Bela Singh. Bela Singh had earlier opened fire in the Vancouver Sikh Temple killing two Sikhs and injuring eight others. The violence ended when Mewa Singh, the killer of Hopkinson was hanged on January 15, 1915. 

One Hundred years after the incident, the Canadian Government has recognized the rights those passengers by releasing a stamp in their honour. Throughout the year there were a number of events held to commemorate the tragedy.

The last major event in this series is the performance of my play "That Land Beyond the Waves" on November 1 and 2 at the City Hall auditorium in Abbotsford. This is the first full length play written on the subject and probably the first ever performance of an English play in the lower mainland.

For more on the subject of Komagata maru please click on the following links:

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/anthropology/komagata-maru-website-guide    

http://blogs.ufv.ca/indocanadianstudies/2014/01/29/centennial-year-of-komagata-maru-launched-at-sikh-heritage-museum/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On_EDTjSW0Q