On the anniversary of the Komagata Maru massacre that took place 111 years ago, Canadian Sikhs paid tribute to the victims of racial discrimination by visiting their memorial site and offering floral tributes. It is worth mentioning that the Komagata Maru (Guru Nanak Ship) departed from British Hong Kong on April 4, 1914, carrying 376 passengers from the Punjab province of India. The ship sailed via Shanghai, China and Yokohama, Japan to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The passengers included 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus, all Punjabi and British citizens, and it reached the shores of Vancouver, Canada on May 23, 1914. Dr. Gurvinder Singh Dhaliwal, shedding light on history, said that the Sikh passengers of the Guru Nanak ship in Vancouver who became victims of racial discrimination and who were not allowed to land on Canadian soil nor return to Punjab. On the occasion of the 111th anniversary of the Guru Nanak ship, we congratulate the entire community. It was very important to revise the pages of history. Through the Komagata Maru massacre (Guru Nanak ship), you have put history in its rightful place by researching and revising. You have done well by preserving the glorious history of their ancestors for the coming generations. You all deserve congratulations. It is the call of the time for people to revise and correct history. The forces that have committed excesses do not want history to be brought before the people in its correct form. The history of the Kamagata Maru (Guru Nanak Ship) is a golden history of our people which has shown that we have always stood firm in the face of oppression. Our people arrived on this land in the early 19th century. How many people would have been there when the Guru Nanak Ship landed on the shores of Vancouver, but our community has created a golden history despite being a minority. Following the lines laid by those patriots, people have been fighting against these excesses till date. We remember how in the 60s and 70s, there were racial attacks on the people of our community? But our community responded and faced it in a very brilliant way. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Canadian people, we achieved a great victory during that period as well. The organizers of Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar Surrey, Gurdwara Baba Banda Singh Ji Bahadur Abbotsford, Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Surrey and Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib Surrey were specially present in this program. On this occasion, Bhai Gurmeet Singh Ji Toor, Bhai Narinder Singh Randhawa, Bhai Gurmeet Singh Gill, Bhai Avtar Singh Khaira from Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Surrey, Bhai Ranjit Singh Khalsa from Gurdwara Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Abbotsford, Bhai Karnail Singh Tut, Bhai Gurdeep Singh Samra from Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar, Bhai Jasvir Singh, Giani Narinder Singh and Sadhu Singh Nijjar from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib, Hardeep Singh Nagra from Gurdwara Sukh Sagar, Charanjit Singh Chatha, Bhai Kulwinder Singh from Sikh Motorcycle Club and a large number of devotees attended and offered their respects. The entire program was prepared and organized by Bhai Gurwinder Singh Dhariwal and Raj Bhandal.
