Canada city to honour Komagata Maru Indians with ‘Guru Nanak Jahaz Remembrance Day'
The council's proclamation notes that the day had been named after Guru Nanak Jahaz, as the vessel had been rechristened so before the journey by Baba Gurdit Singh, giving the sojourn political, cultural, and spiritual significance.
While the authorities at the time had said the Indians were asked to return as they suspected they were revolutionaries, many had called the decision to be the fallout of strained race relations in the Canadian city.
The remembrance day is being observed to mark the 111th anniversary of the the ship being made to return.
Earlier, the city council of Vancouver had proclaimed May 23 as Guru Nanak Jahaz (Komagata Maru) Day of Remembrance, as it was on May 23, 1914, that the ship had reached reached Burrard Inlet near Vancouver with 376 Indians, including 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus.
Of them, only 24 could prove prior residency and were allowed entry into Canada.
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"Mayor of the city of Surrey, Brenda Locke, will declare the proclamation on July 23, while Vancouver mayor Ken Sim made the proclamation on May 23.
The commemoration will include reflections and a shared act of remembrance honouring the passengers' moral courage and the enduring contributions of those who carried this memory forward to the heart of Canadian public life," said Abbotsford resident Gurvinder Singh Dhaliwal, who, along with Raj Singh Bhandal, runs the Guru Nanak Jahaz Heritage Society and is the force behind the proclamations.
The proclamation also mentions the Guru Nanak Jahaz as a name of "deep spiritual and cultural meaning", overshadowed by the commonly used name Komagata Maru, which carried 376 persons who were denied disembarkation under exclusionary immigration laws and ultimately forced to depart from Vancouver's Burrard Inlet on July 23, 1914.
"Today, descendants and communities across Canada remember this journey as a courageous stand against colonialism at home, only to be met with discrimination and injustice upon arrival," said the proclamation.
Surrey is today home to one of the largest Sikh and Punjabi populations in Canada. "The city recognises the Guru Nanak Jahaz passengers' pursuit of dignity, equal opportunity, and justice, which faced discrimination under the Continuous Journey law. Their legacy stands as a continuous inspiration to fight against injustice," said the proclamation.
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