What is it?

The Komagata Maru was a Japanese ship that sailed from Shanghai, China, to Vancouver, Canada. There was 321 people that consisted of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus on the boat who wanted to go to Vancouver for a better life.

My name is Parmjeet singh

I was on board the Komagata Maru from when it left Shanghai and arrived in Vancouver. My experience was horrible. From being starved to being shot at in Calcutta. 

People getting on the Komagata Maru in Shanghai

The start

I got on the ship in Shanghai with my son and brother. We went from Shanghai, to Moji then Yokohama. We had some fun on the ship playing cards, and talking about what we would do when we got to Canada. My son said he was gonna get a bike then make friends and ride around the whole country.

Komagata Maru leaving the port in Yokohama

The journey

Slowly as time went on, we ran out of things to talk about and it got pretty boring. We would wake up, play cards, have roti and daal for breakfast and lunch, play cards, have dinner, then go to sleep. I remember my son complaining that there was nothing to do after running around the ship for 2 hours.

    Komagata maru sailing through the pacfific ocean

Arrival

When we arrived in Vancouver, it was not a warm welcome. There were people protesting. Throwing things at us. Government officials were in huddles, talking about things probably to do with us. Even though we were part of the British Empire we were not allowed to step foot on Canadian soil.

Canadian officials speaking together about the Komagata Maru

The agreement

We and the Canadians had struck a deal. After months of starvation the Canadians had sent out 1 of their only 2 warships, the HMCS Rainbow, with 204 soldiers ready to attack. The agreement we came to was that we would leave unharmed if the Canadians gave us food to go back home. They ended up giving us more food than we could eat, and we held up our part of the deal and left.

Back home. But not quite.

When we entered Indian waters, we were stopped by a British gun ship. It pointed its weapons at us and guided us to shore. When we got to shore we were some 26 kilometers away from Calcutta. We were taken off the ship and violence ensued. People were shot. People ran. And the obedient were handcuffed. About 20 of us were able to escape to Punjab, 20 died,1 drowned, 9 were sent to the hospital and 202 of us were jailed, nobody knows what happened to the last 28.

British gunships in the Indian Ocean

The end

I ended up going back to Punjab with my son, thankfully. We went back home and my wife came to hug me, crying. She said one of her friends whose husband was in the army, told her about what was happening in Canada. It took me a while to understand I might never get back to Canada. But today I am sitting in my house in Toronto with my wife, as my son goes out and studies to be a doctor at U of T.