In 1914, 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus set sail on a Japanese steam ship called the komagata maru, to arrive at Vancouver BC. The Komagata maru departed from Hong Kong on April 4 which picked up more passengers on the way from places such as Shanghai and Yokohama. The steamship arrived in Vancouver on may 23. Meanwhile in Canada there was a continuous passage act in place, this act summarized that if you wished to immigrate to Canada your ship couldn't stop anywhere on the way. The komagata Maru had stopped in a few places on the voyage so the continuous passage act was violated therefor they were sent back to India. When the passengers of the Komagata maru arrived back in India they were arrested. Some passengers didn't agree for them to be arrested so fought back which didn't end well. Gurdit Singh Sandhu a Punjabi leader was determined to immigrate to Canada successfully because the previous voyages to Canada were blocked and in hope to get in even terms with the Canadian government. The Komagata maru was a ship traveling from Hong Kong to Canada but was stopped due to discriminated laws. A video on the komagata maru incident below.
Reflection
I think that the komagata maru should have been allowed in Canada even though there was a rising population. The continuous passage act was an indirect law that was discriminating because the British didn't want any Indian or European immigrants to attempt to settle in Canada. The British government was unfair to all the people wanting to immigrate Canada because when the British first settled in Canada there was no continuous passage act that would stop them from immigrating to Canada. the Canadian government did apologize in recent years. The Komagata maru was a steam ship that was stopped on shore of Vancouver by the Canadian government due to a discriminated law, the komagata maru incident didn't make me proud as a Canadian.
The apology by Steven Harper
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/harper-apologizes-in-b-c-for-1914-komagata-maru-incident-1.747120
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komagata_Maru_incident
http://www.canadiansikhheritage.ca/en/node/10
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