New commemorative street signs in 性视界传媒 will honour the victims of the 1914 Komagata Maru incident.

The city unveiled the new signs Wednesday (July 31) that are to be installed on 75A Avenue between 120th Street and 121A Street.

鈥淭oday, council put into action what we approved a little over three weeks ago to name a 性视界传媒 street to remember the victims of the Komagata Maru incident,鈥� said Mayor Doug McCallum at the unveiling.

鈥淜omagata Maru Way is proof that the citizens of 性视界传媒 will not forget the injustices of the past and that we are a city that welcomes and embraces people from all over the world.鈥�

READ ALSO: 性视界传媒 council approves renaming a street to commemorate Komagata Maru victims, July 6, 2019

性视界传媒 council voted in favour of installing the commemorative street name signs during its July 8 meeting.

As well, city council voted in favour of other staff recommendations 鈥� identified by the 性视界传媒 Heritage Advisory Commission during its May meeting 鈥� which called for a research project on South Asians in 性视界传媒, a heritage storyboard and for the city continue to offer programming that 鈥渟hares the culture, history and contributions of South Asian residents in 性视界传媒.鈥�

Raj Toor, whose grandfather came to Canada on the Komagata Maru, along with the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society, had been pushing for the City of 性视界传媒 to rename a street in honour of the passengers.

READ ALSO: Descendants of Komagata Maru Society looks to have 性视界传媒 street renamed, Jan. 8, 2019

Toor previously told the Now-Leader he thought 性视界传媒 would be a good fit to memorialize the passengers because the city has such a large South Asian community.

Toor was part of the unveiling on Wednesday and he said while the past can鈥檛 be undone, people can now move forward and 鈥渓eave a legacy for the future generation by educating them about the past.鈥�

鈥淧laces like this Komagata Maru Way and storyboard in Nicholson Park will educate the entire community and make us all richer in awareness of how special a place Canada is to have so many different ethnic communities living together. And with this knowledge we can build a better world free from racism.鈥�

The research project, according to a city report, would include hiring a researcher to 鈥減rovide an in-depth research service to produce a legacy document, which thoroughly documents South Asian history in 性视界传媒鈥� and will 鈥渇ill a significant gap in the existing historical record.鈥�

The heritage storyboard would provide an overview of the Komagata Maru incident and the reverberations the event has for many 性视界传媒 residents today. It would be installed at R.A. Nicholson Park, which is just east of an existing Komagata Maru mural.

The report says the interpretive panel would be installed following the completion of the research project.

In 1914, the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver from Hong Kong, carrying 376 passengers. Most of the passengers were immigrants from the Punjab region in what was then British India.

The hundreds of passengers were not allowed on shore.

For two months, they remained in the waters outside of Vancouver before being forced to return to India.

But upon their return, some of the passengers were shot and killed 鈥渋n an encounter with British Indian police,鈥� according to the canadianencyclopedia.ca.

lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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