The Tragic Komagata Maru Incident Explained

In the first year of the COVID pandemic, it's estimated that EU member states illegally pushed back against at least 40,000 asylum seekers. These illegal operations are also linked to the deaths of over 2,000 people. Meanwhile, in the United States, border patrol kept up to 30,000 people from seeking asylum in September 2021, with the border patrol agents seen on horseback whipping asylum seekers with their reins.

The enforcement of immigration law has a proven history of racism in both the United States and Europe, but Canada often finds itself conveniently left out of such conversations, despite the fact that its own history of racism in immigration policies is intimately tied with those of the United States and Great Britain.

The Komagata Maru incident is just one such example of racism in the history of Canada's immigration policy, in which Indian immigrants were rejected by the Canadian government and then subsequently massacred by the British government. And people of Indian descent weren't the only ones singled out in Canada's immigration policies. Canada imposed a $500 entry tax on all Chinese immigrants, and also imposed restrictions on Japanese immigrants as well. But the Komagata Maru incident isn't only about immigration. It's also about a fight against colonial rule. This is the tragic Komagata Maru incident explained.

As British rule in India transitioned from rule by the East India Company to rule by the British Crown, Indian immigrants across the world were unsettled. In response, several organizations were formed outside of India "dedicated to supporting self-rule in India," according to The Pluralism Project.

One of these organizations, the Ghadar Party, was organized in California by Lala Har Dayal Singh Mathur, Sohan Singh Bakhna and Pandit Kanshi Ram in 1913. The Wire writes that the movement was religiously diverse, composed of Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Parsis, but they were also relatively elitist. But as the movement expanded, rural Sikh farmers in California began to make up a majority of the party. Pushing newspapers in both Punjabi and Urdu, the Ghadar Party was able to recruit thousands of members outside of India who were invested in supporting the overthrow of British rule in the country. With thousands of members, the Ghadar Party decided to add their physical support to the cause of Indian self-determination while Britain was preoccupied with World War I. Members were to be sent to India in groups with money and weapons. 

In response to the Ghadar Movement, and "in direct response to the anticipated arrival of the Komagata Maru" the British passed the "Ingress Into India Ordinance," according to Professor Renisa Mawani. This ordinance granted sweeping powers to the police, allowing them to stop, search, arrest, and detain anyone who was suspected of being anti-British.

During his travels to Hong Kong for business, Gurdit Singh would visit the local gurdwara, places of assembly and worship for Sikhs. According to The Canadian Bazaar, Gurdit Singh met many Indian people at the gurdwara who found themselves stranded in Hong Kong because none of the ships going to Vancouver, Canada would allow them passage.

After Gurdit Singh's help was sought due to his connections and influence, he decided to charter a ship for Indian passengers and sail it to Canada in 1914 in order to challenge their immigration laws. Initially, he wanted to charter a ship directly from India, but because the Government of India was worried that the ship would violate Canada's immigration laws, Gurdit Singh's application to charter a ship was rejected, according to "From Policemen to Revolutionaries."

Canada's immigration laws took a beating around the same time in November 1913, when the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled, in the case regarding the passengers of the Panama Maru, that the continuous journey and $200 requirement regulations were invalid, Times Colonist reports. Prime Minister Robert Borden's cabinet soon rushed in to reword both regulations so that they "conformed to the immigration law." As a result, when the Komagata Maru was to arrive in May 1913, they would face a more arduous legal battle, as would J. Edward Bird, the lawyer who represented the passengers of both the Panama Maru and the Komagata Maru.

After almost two months at sea, the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver on May 23, 1914. However, the Canadian government tried everything they could to prevent Gurdit Singh and his passengers from entering Canada. When the Komagata Maru arrived, officials wouldn't give Gurdit Singh permission to land, in order to keep him from accessing his banks and having the required funds to enter the country, writes the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. And when the passengers hired J. Edward Bird to represent them in court, immigration officials prevented Bird from meeting privately with the passengers.

The Komagata Maru was kept in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet for two months and on July 6, 1914, five judges ruled against Bird and decided that the passengers on the Komagata Maru wouldn't be allowed into Canada based on the regulations that Bird had, less than a year earlier, argued successfully against. In the end, all but 20 "who already had resident status" were denied entry into Canada. The time spent aboard the Komagata Maru was unpleasant as well, consisting of "fighting, no food on the ship, [and] lots of suffering," according to the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

On July 23, a little over two weeks after their appeal was rejected, the Komagata Maru was escorted by the HMCS Rainbow, a Canadian warship, all the way out of Canadian waters.

Gurdit Singh and his son were able to avoid capture during the Budge Budge riot and escaped with four other men. In an attempt to keep his son safe, Gurdit Singh sent him to the Sarhali village to live with his grandfather Hukam Singh. The Canadian Bazaar writes that Gurdit Singh lived in hiding for almost seven years in an attempt to avoid the authorities, who blamed him for the massacre that had occurred.

According to Komagata Maru Journey, while Gurdit Singh was in hiding he met with several nationalist leaders, but even they had a negative view of the Komagata Maru incident and he had to fight against "the suggestion that he and the passengers had been the authors of their own misfortune." During this time, he started writing his version of the incident in a serial publication. The subsequent book was titled "Voyage of Komagata Maru or India's Slavery Abroad."

By the time the Komagata Maru was told to leave Canadian waters, its story had already spread amongst the Indian community around the world. According to "Underground Asia," meetings for organizations that were concerned with the liberation of India were "attended by hundreds of people."

In "Trials that Changed History," M.S. Gill writes that around August 1914, Ghadrites, members of the Ghadar Movement, also set sail for India. And ​​on the way, when they found out in Penang what happened to the passengers of the Komagata Maru at Budge Budge, they knew that they were in for a similarly cold welcome. Upon arrival, all 8,000 aboard the ship were arrested. Out of the 8,000: 5,000 were released; 2,500 were restricted to their villages; and 400 were kept imprisoned.

News of the Budge Budge massacre also led to the galvanization of what became known as the Hindu–German Conspiracy. According to Scroll.in, many were motivated "by anger at the racism and exploitation they witnessed and were subject to" and joined the Ghadar Movement to fight for India's self-determination. The Hindu-German conspiracy involved a "secret shipment of arms and rebels" from the United States to India. However, the plot failed and was revealed in 1917 when some of its key participants were arrested. The subsequent trial against nine Americans, nine German citizens, and 17 Indians ended up lasting 155 days and cost the United States government $450,000.