Prime Minister Mark Carney has labeled the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, during which 376 Indian immigrants were not allowed entry into Canada, a "stark reminder" of the periods when the country did not live up to its higher ideals.
He asked Canadians to make sure such injustices never happen again and to work towards making inclusion more than words—making it sincere practice.
In 1914, the Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamship, docked in Vancouver's harbor after a lengthy voyage across the Pacific. Aboard were 376 people of Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu descent who were seeking asylum and dignity, Carney wrote.
"Canadian authorities, however, invoking exclusionary and discriminatory legislation, denied them entry," said the Prime Minister in an anniversary message Friday for the Komagata Maru.
Recalling the passengers' ordeal, Carney narrated that for two months they were kept aboard the ship, without food, water, and medical care.
"When they were compelled to go back to India, many were arrested or murdered there," he continued.
"The Komagata Maru tragedy is a chilling reminder of how, in moments of our history, Canada fell short of the values we hold dear," Carney asserted.
He went on, "We cannot rewrite the past, but we have to face it; to act with intentionality, to make sure such injustices are never repeated, and to construct a better future where inclusion is not a slogan, but a lived, practised, and defended reality."
Let this somber anniversary be a call to remembrance and conscience. To pay tribute to the past is to learn from it, and to learn from it is to act," the Prime Minister summed up.
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