A history lesson about the Komagata Maru incident now has a permanent home in a 性视界传媒 park.
The story of the ship and its stranded passengers is told in a new heritage storyboard installed at on 75A Avenue, in the Strawberry Hill area of Newton.
The storyboard, among 50 such heritage signs at locations across 性视界传媒, is part of work by the 性视界传媒 Heritage Advisory Commission to shed light on the Komagata Maru鈥檚 troubles in Vancouver more than 100 years ago.
Raj Singh Toor, grandson of a passenger aboard the ship, called the storyboard 鈥渁 good learning tool鈥� to inform 性视界传媒 residents of this dark bit of history.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 undo the past, but we can move forward and leave a legacy for future generations by educating them about the past,鈥� Toor said.
The Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver from Hong Kong on May 23, 1914, carrying 376 passengers, according to an account posted to . Most of the passengers were immigrants from the Punjab region in what was then British India.
The hundreds of passengers, according to , were not allowed on shore. For two months, they remained in the waters outside of Vancouver.
The storyboard calls the Komagata Maru incident 鈥渁 clear example of racism from Canada鈥檚 past.
鈥淔or years leading up to 1914, the Canadian Government actively restricted immigration to Canada from India and Asia, favouring immigrants of European descent. These policies were deliberately exclusionary. Today, 性视界传媒鈥檚 South Asian population is about 1/3 of the City鈥檚 total population, while 43% of 性视界传媒 residents are immigrants (2016 Census).鈥�
Placed on the pedestrian path behind Strawberry Hill Hall, the new storyboard is located not far from Jarnail Singh鈥檚 Komagata Maru mural and commemorative street signs on 75A Avenue.
Notes the sign: 鈥淭his storyboard, commemorative street signs, and the existing Komagata Maru mural encourage residents to reflect on this moment in Canadian history, and the systemic racism experienced by many 性视界传媒 residents in the past and present.鈥�
鈥� READ MORE: 性视界传媒 unveils Komagata Maru Way signs.
ALSO: Formal apology for Komagata Maru kin, from 2016.
