Template:AOW192
The Komagata Maru was a Japanese steam liner, that was chartered by an affluent businessman, Gurdit Singh, to bring Indian immigrants to Canada. It began its journey from Hong Kong, sailed to Shanghai, China, then to Yokohama, Japan, and then on to Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada. This journey took place in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, India.
During the period before 1920's the whole of North America has a policy of discrimination against coloured races which was thinly disguised to appear as something else. The dominate white governments of USA and Canada were determined not to allow the flow of Asians, whether so called 'yellow', 'brown' or 'black' immigrants. In the year 1900 the census reported 2050 people from India on the North American continent.
The majority of these Indians were Punjabis who had settled in Canada in the hope of finding work so that they could improve their economic situation from what it had been in the Punjab. On arrival in Canada they encountered discrimination and were not welcomed by the white Canadians people who wanted the "brown invasion" to stop. The Canadian majority felt that the Indians would take over their jobs. It was these insecurities which led British Columbia to pass stringent laws discouraging the immigration of Indians to Canada.
Indians had to have at least $200 on their person to enter British Columbia and had to have come via direct passage from India, with no stops in Western Asia. Iin those days this was was practically impossible. These were very unreasonable laws as the average Indian only earned about ten cents a day. The Canadian government was also pressuring steamship companies to stop selling tickets to Indians. .....More
