Lifestyle / Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau Apologizes For ‘Great Injustice’ Of Komagata Maru

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau Apologizes For ‘Great Injustice’ Of Komagata Maru

Lifestyle May 21, 2016

by Sidra Ghazali

The Liberal leader formally apologized for the century-old racist episode and called it "a great injustice."

The infamous Komagata Maru incident revolves around the immigrant-filled Japanese steamship that was en route to Vancouver, British Columbia.

The ship carried a total of 376 passengers, out of which only 24 passengers of non-Asian origin were admitted to the country. The other 340 individuals were declined entrance and sent back to face the horrific and violent fates that awaited them in British India.

^{The Komagata Maru

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org}

Exclusion laws in both Canada and the United States at the time attempted to justify this act of prejudice and bias at the time in both Canada and the United States. These laws were designed to preclude entry to Sikh, Muslim and Indian immigrants.

Trudeau gave a formal apology recently on behalf of his whole country for the xenophobic and racist episode that took place more than a hundred years ago. Standing in the House of Commons, he gave a remarkable speech. He not only apologized for the act of discrimination but also showed genuine remorse for the calamity.

"For the laws that discriminated against you so senselessly and for not apologizing sooner," he said. "For all these things, we are truly sorry."

^{Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

www.macleans.ca}

He resumed his speech by acknowledging the victims of the Komagata Maru and expressed his deepest regret over the incident.

“First and foremost, to the victims of the incident, no words can erase the pain and suffering they experienced," he said. "Regrettably, the passage of time means that none are alive to hear our apology today, still, we offer it, fully and sincerely, for our indifference to your plight, for our failure to recognize all that you had to offer.’’

The Prime Minister also vowed that the hostility displayed by Canada at the time was solely due to discriminatory reasons. ‘’As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not.”

_{Photo Credit: www.youtube.com}

He continued by saying, "We can never know what your lives would have been like had your relatives been welcome to Canada. The ways in which your lives would have been different, the ways in which Canada would have been enriched. Those possibilities are lost to history, for that, and to you, we apologize."

The pardoning not only earned the Prime Minister a standing ovation in the House of Commons but also gained him tremendous support on social media from the Indo-Canadian community.

The Canadian Minister of National Defence, Harjit Singh Sajjan, tweeted:

Honoured and humbled. Thank you @JustinTrudeau. Humble et honoré. Merci Justin Trudeau. #KomagataMaru

— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) May 18, 2016

Hockey Night Punjabi also reflected on the apology:

#HockeyNightPunjabi reflects on the #KomagataMaru apology issued today by the Canadian government. pic.twitter.com/poy9shJjQV

— Hockey Night Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) May 19, 2016

Other notable attendees present for the apology included relatives of the people aboard the Komagata Maru expedition.

_{Main Image Photo Credit: www.cbc.ca}

Check out the Prime Minister's apology and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Sidra Ghazali

Author

Sidra is an aspiring textile designer. She is also a fashion obsessed makeup junkie who loves everything pink, cake & Tom Cruise. She is an avid writer, reader, songwriter and occasional chef.

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