Komagata Maru centenary in Vancouver on May 23, 2014
Tributes were paid to the heroes of Komagata Maru on the 100th anniversary of the episode on May 23 in Vancouver. Komagata Maru was a Japanese ship which was hired by Malaysia-based rich Sikh Gurdit Singh to bring 376 Indians from Hong Kong to Canada to challenge the racist laws of that time. Though India, like Canada, was part of British Commonwealth at that time, Indians were allowed to come to Canada. It was on May 23, 1914, that the ship arrived in Burrard Inlet in Vancouver. Only a few Indians, who had previously been in Canada, were allowed to disembark and all the others were forcibly sent back to India after two months. On arrival at Budge-Budge in Kolkata, about 20 of them were shot dead by British Indian police.
