The Daily UbuntuThread 01 · Exile and Migration · September 25, 2026
Komagata Maru: two months outside the harbour
In 1914, 376 passengers from India were kept for two months in Vancouver's harbour. In 2016, Canada apologized to them.
1 · The scene
At the arrivals area of Montréal-Trudeau airport, a family has been waiting for four hours. The plane landed long ago, but the uncle they are expecting has not come out. Behind the glass, you can make out a line, papers, questions. The six-year-old has pressed her forehead against the partition.
A maintenance worker comes by with his cart. He stops, takes some cookies out of his lunch box and hands them to the child. "He'll come out. I waited on the other side once, too."
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
The Komagata Maru, turned away at Vancouver
On May 23, 1914, the ship Komagata Maru dropped anchor in Vancouver's harbour. On board were 376 passengers from India, of Sikh, Muslim and Hindu background. A rule awaited them: "continuous journey," which required arriving directly from one's country of origin, without a stopover. For anyone leaving India, that was almost impossible. Without saying so, the rule was designed to close the door on Indian immigrants.
Only about twenty returning residents, and a few special cases, were allowed to land. The others stayed on board for two months. On shore, friends of Punjabi and South Asian origin hired lawyers, negotiated with the authorities and, on several occasions, had water and food brought to the ship. On July 23, 1914, the ship was forced to leave. Back in India, at Budge Budge, near Calcutta, passengers were killed in a clash with police and troops.
On May 18, 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered an official apology in the House of Commons. The City of Vancouver did the same in May 2021, and a monument has recalled the passengers at Coal Harbour since 2012. Repair often begins with naming. And this story also leaves us a model: the people on shore who, unable to open the border, refused to leave the passengers alone.
3 · The voice
“These passengers had chosen Canada. And when they arrived, they were rejected.”
4 · The question
When someone is waiting "on the other side of the glass," what, in your daily life, would be the equivalent of that water and food brought from the shore?
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, "Komagata Maru" (Hugh Johnston), updated 2026. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
- Prime Minister of Canada, "Komagata Maru apology in the House of Commons," May 18, 2016. www.pm.gc.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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