05/23/2020
Soldiers of the Queen Denied Justice by British Columbia Officials
On this day in 1914, the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver's harbour but was prevented from docking and ordered to anchor at sea. Amongst the 376 passengers aboard the ship were veterans of Her Majesty's forces of the British Indian Army. Like all the Punjabi passengers (340 Sikhs 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus), they too were looking for new opportunities across an Empire within which they served and held citizenship.
In the early years of the 20th Century, Punjab's granaries fed the masses in British India and its garrison was home to some of the most decorated regiments in the Empire. Within the pomp and circumstance of British rule, the rank and file of Punjabi regiments had also regularly paraded as the sovereign's honoured escorts at jubilees and coronations. And as part of the military machinery of British administration, these Punjabis had established 'follow-the-flag' diasporas across the colonies in Africa and Asia - and they hoped Canada would be no different. After all, it too was a land with which they shared a monarchy, flag and common British nationality ( Canadian nationality was not enacted until 1947, the Maple leaf flag was introduced in the 1960s).
However, in Vancouver, instead of a heroes' welcome, these defenders of the Crown were confronted by a hostile white population and by preventing the landing of the ship the authorities worked to deny them their rights. For once landed, they could demand a court hearing to win the right to stay - as other Punjabis had done in a 1913 case when their lawyer had successfully argued denying them rights of British Citizenship was unlawful. By keeping the passengers on the ship, they could not be taken into custody which was critical because once arrested a British Subject had the right to a speedy court hearing.
In the weeks to follow, the ship would sit in limbo as authorities employed further underhand and unlawful tactics to deny British passengers their rights: to make communication difficult their lawyer was not allowed to board the ship, and they were prevented from unloading and selling their cargo to raise funds even as Canadian authorities denied passengers food, water and medical attention. Matters would come to a head in the summer just days before Canada and India would both be called in defence of the Crown in a European war - as citizens of the same Empire they would now be obliged to fight as brothers-in-arms. Look out for that post in July and future posts from Harbhajan S Gill and the folks at the Komagata Maru Foundation www.komagatamaru.ca as they continue to preserve the story of the plight of the Komagata Maru.
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Illustration from:
Duty Honour & Izzat
Punjab's Brothers-in-Arms in Flanders.
For the complete story of the Punjab's Defenders of the Crown, check it out here:
https://renegadeartsentertainment.com/product/duty-honour-izzat/
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We thank the Department of Canadian Heritage for financial support of the Duty Honour & Izzat project
