Komagata Maru Incident [1914] - History, Causes And Significance

The Komagata Maru incident is related to the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru. On this ship, a group from British India attempted to immigrate to Canada in April 1914. Mostly were denied entry and forced to return to Budge Budge, Calcutta (present-day Kolkata). The Indian Imperial Police attempted to detain the group leaders there. A riot occurred, and the police opened fire on it, killing 22 people. On April 4, 1914, the Komagata Maru ship departed from Hong Kong with 376 Indian passengers aboard, with 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus. On May 22, more than a month later, the Komagata Maru landed in British Columbia, but the ship’s crew and passengers were not given a kind greeting.

Komagata Maru Incident

Komagata Maru Incident is one of the most important topics for the UPSC IAS exam. It covers a significant part of the Modern History subject in the Mains General Studies Paper-1 syllabus and General Studies Paper-1 of the UPSC Prelims Syllabus.

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What Was The Komagata Maru?

The Komagata Maru episode represented a challenge to Canada's rigid immigration laws. The Continuous Passage requirement forced immigrants to travel directly from their country of origin and purchase their tickets in advance. So even if someone were born in India, moved to China, and wanted to travel to Canada, they would still be considered illegal. Another requirement was that immigrants needed to have a minimum of $200. The goal of these rules was to limit Indian immigrants who wanted to work in Canada. In this process, the white christians from Europe and Northern United States would be considered more preferable. Singh, the leader of the Komagata Maru argued that British subjects should be vetted, but Canadian officials would not support him and denied him an opportunity to dock. Only a handful of Canadian residents and the doctor and his family were able to disembark from the ship.

Background of Komagata Maru Incident

• Canada had strict immigration rules, allowing entry only to those who traveled directly from India on their own ship.
• In November 1913, Canada's Supreme Court permitted the entry of 35 Indians who met this requirement.
• Gurdit Singh, an Indian contractor in Singapore, chartered the Komagata Maru, a Japanese ship, to bring 376 Indians from East and Southeast India to Vancouver.
• Ghadarites visited the ship in Yokohama, Japan, spreading their message and literature.
• When it arrived at Vancouver, the ship was refused entry, prompting the establishment of a 'Shore Committee' in Vancouver to represent the rights of the passengers.
• A vigorous campaign in the USA, spearheaded by men such as Barkatullah, Bhagwan Singh, Ram Chandra, and Sohan Singh Bhakna, sought to assist the passengers.
• The Komagata Maru was finally driven out of Canadian waters.
• On its return journey, the outbreak of World War I resulted in instructions that passengers could disembark only in Calcutta.
• The ship arrived in Budge Budge, Calcutta, on September 27, 1914, where the passengers had a confrontation with the police, and 18 people were killed.
• This led to widespread resentment in Punjab, and there were political dacoities in Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Ludhiana districts.

The “Komagata Maru Incident”

• More than an isolated “incidence,” the Komagata Maru narrative demonstrates the Canadian government’s purposeful, discriminatory strategy of keeping out ethnicities it considered unsuitable to enter.
• These explanations were couched in racist and ethnocentric concepts of “progress,” “civilization,” and “suitability,” all of which supported the belief that Canada should continue to be a “White Man’s Country.”
• On May 23, 1914, a packed ship from Hong Kong carrying 376 passengers, most immigrants from Punjab, British India, landed at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet on Canada’s west coast.
• The passengers, who were all British citizens, were contesting the Continuous Passage law, which said that immigrants must “come from the place of their birth or citizenship via a continuous route and on through tickets purchased before leaving the country of their birth or citizenship.”
• The regulation was enacted in 1908 to limit Indian immigration to Canada.
• As a result, the Komagata Maru was refused mooring by the authorities, and only twenty returning citizens were given admittance to Canada, with the exception of the ship’s doctor and his family.
• After a two-month standoff, the Canadian military took the ship out of the harbour on July 23, 1914.
• It was forced to sail back to Budge-Budge, India, where nineteen passengers were murdered by gunshot upon disembarking, and many more were imprisoned.

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Response of Ghadar Party

At that time, the 'Komagata Maru' incident was brought up repeatedly by various Indian groups to point out the contradictions in Canadian immigration policy. The outburst of sentiment generated by this event was utilized by Indian revolutionaries, among whom the Ghadar Party members were prominent, who wished to elicit sympathy for their cause. In 1914, a series of meetings in California was held by the Ghadarites for the Indians living there. The Ghadar leaders used this event to solicit the participation of the community in their movement. Due to this sad incident, people were also recruited for the cause. Key leaders of the Ghadar Party were Tarak Nath Das, Barkatullah, and Sohan Singh.

Why Was The Komagata Maru Ship Turned Away?

The Komagata Maru incident tested Canada's strict immigration rules. The Continuous Passage law required immigrants to travel directly from their birth country and purchase tickets in advance. This meant that even if someone were born in India, moved to China, and wanted to go to Canada, they would be considered illegal. Immigrants also needed to have $200. The rules aimed to limit Indian immigrants seeking work in Canada. White Christian migrants from Northern Europe and the United States were considered more desirable. The leader of the Komagata Maru, Singh, argued that British subjects should be allowed to relocate to Canada. However, Canadian officials disagreed, and the ship was denied docking. Only a few Canadian residents and the doctor's family were allowed to leave the ship.

Komagata Maru Incident: What Happened To Everyone Else?

• The ship was eventually taken back out to sea by the Canadian Navy following a two-month standoff in seas close outside Vancouver.
• During its time in the harbour, the Komagata Maru became a media phenomenon and received much attention from the general public.
• According to Simon Fraser University professors who examined the incident, the vessel finally returned to India, where 19 passengers were slain by gunshot upon disembarking. Others have been imprisoned.
• The passengers’ descendants have requested an official apology from Ottawa for years. The Sikh community in Canada now numbers little around 500,000 people.

Komagata Maru Incident & Ghadar Party

• The Komagata Maru event exacerbated the situation in Punjab. The following were the reasons:
  • The majority of the people on board were Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims.
  • The ship was only recovered after two months of hunger and uncertainty, which eventually became entangled in controversy.
  • Indians were harmed by the perception that the British influenced Canadian authorities.
  • When the ship returned to Calcutta in September 1914, the passengers were instructed to take a train to Punjab, which they rejected, and 22 people perished in the conflict.
• Various Indian organisations used the ‘Komagata Maru’ event to highlight anomalies in Canadian immigration policies at the time.
• The emotions sparked by this occurrence were used by Indian revolutionaries, notably Ghadar Party members, to rally public support for their cause.
• Ghadarites conducted several meetings with the Indian community in California in 1914, and the Ghadar leaders utilised this tragedy to enlist the community’s support for their cause.
• Following this sad tragedy, many were also recruited into the movement. Tarak Nath Das, Barkatullah, and Sohan Singh were prominent Ghadar leaders.

What was the Ghadar Party?

• The Ghadar Party was a worldwide political movement started in the early twentieth century by expatriate Indians to overthrow British authority in India.
• The Ghadar Party was a worldwide political movement of expatriate Indians seeking to end British rule in India.
• The official establishment took place on July 15, 1913. In 1913, Lala Hardayal created the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association, known as the Ghadar Party, with Sohan Singh Bhakna as its president.
• Members of this party were immigrant Sikhs from the United States and Canada.

Shore Committee

• The Komagata Maru incident occurred in 1914 when 376 people hired the Japanese ship Komagata Maru. The ship was not permitted to dock in Vancouver.
• The ship was denied permission to dock in Vancouver by Canadian officials.
• To fight for the rights of travellers, the Shore Committee was formed by Hussain Rahim, Sohan Lal Pathak, and Balwant Singh.

Significance of the Komagata Maru Incident

• Arbitrary confinement, for example, benefited Indian independence activists in revealing the true face of British power.
• Throughout the journey, the Komagata maru stopped at various ports where political lectures helped rally support from neighbouring countries.
• The Asian Exclusion Act only allowed politicians to doubt Whiteman’s burden argument because they refused to accept that “burden.”
• The Ghadar Party used the tragedy to rally support for a massive revolt against the British Empire.
• As a result, the Komagata Maru incident may be seen as a watershed point in Indian political history. It infuriated the public and provided a forum for assaults on British citizens.
• The Komagata Maru incident served as a watershed for the global Indian diaspora and independence movement. It crystallized racial discrimination embedded in colonial and immigration policies, catalyzing political mobilisation—especially by the Ghadar Party, who used the incident to rally transnational support for India's freedom struggle.
• In Canada, the incident remains a storytelling cornerstone—prompting sustained discussion on immigration justice, systemic racism, and Canada's historical identity.

Global Symbolism and Contemporary Echoes

• The Komagata Maru incident is more than a historical episode; it resonates world-wide as a warning of immigrant exclusion. Incidents such as the infamous MS St. Louis case (1939)—where refugees were rejected and were met with dire fates—serve as reminders of the continued salience of excluding policies fueled by prejudices and fears.
• Recently, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney labeled the Komagata Maru as a "stark reminder" of Canada's inability to live by its ideals of inclusivity and justice, calling for remembering and learning from such black pages.

Legacy of Komagata Maru Incident

• In 2016, the Canadian Prime Minister officially apologized to the House of Commons about the Komagata Maru.
• The results of the 1914 journey can still be seen in modern anti-terrorist legislation, with coloured men, such as Muslims and Sikhs, being regularly arrested and detained without trial.
• Canada's decision to refuse entry to the Komagata Maru passengers was the start of a system of racial control of borders that continues today, often by reason of fears of terrorism and insurgency.

Canada’s Long Road to Reconciliation

Canada's acknowledgement of the Komagata Maru Incident has progressed through official apologies and memorial efforts. It was in May 2008 that the British Columbia Legislative Assembly approved an apology motion, to be followed shortly by Prime Minister Stephen Harper making a face-to-face apology at a Sikh community event in B.C.

Additional steps came in May 2016, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a formal apology within the House of Commons, stating Canada's shared responsibility and obligation to fight racism and discrimination. Civic and municipal acknowledgments have followed these apologies. The City of New Westminster and Province of British Columbia provided formal apologies in 2021 admitting their involvement in the event.

Conclusion

The Komagata Maru event made the pervasive anti-Asian/anti-Indian sentiments public in Canada, specifically in British Columbia. The event confirmed that individuals who had moved from India were outsiders. The fate of the Komagata Maru passengers is more than simply a singular episode; it reflects the government of Canada’s intentional exclusionary policy designed to keep out newcomers based on their ethnicity and/or place of origin.

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