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NDP RENEWS CALL FOR KOMAGATA MARU APOLOGY IN HOUSE OF COMMONS
3-07-2016
OTTAWA — NDP Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Critic Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East, is introducing a motion in Parliament to call on the Liberal government to honour their pre-election promise to the Indo-Canadian community to officially apologize for the Komagata Maru incident in the House of Commons.
In 2002, the Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation of Canada initiated a petition calling for a respectful apology from the Canadian government. Successive governments, including the Conservative government refused to do.
In 2014, attending Mela Gadri Babian Da, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a pre-election commitment to the community that he would make a formal apology for the Komagata Maru incident in the House of Commons within the first 90 days of a Liberal Government’s mandate.
“It’s now 2016, more than 100 days into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate, and we are still waiting for the formal apology in the House of Commons”, said Sahib Thind, President of Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation of Canada.
“The descendants of those who were on the Komagata Maru need closure and they deserve the respect to have a formal apology in the House of Commons,” said Kwan. “If the Liberals want real change from the Conservatives, they would listen to the community, support this motion and officially apologize for the Komagata Maru.”
The Komagata Maru marks a dark chapter in Canadian history. Nearly 400 passengers were refused entry into Canada under a discriminatory law and sent back to India where 20 of them were killed.
“New Democrats have been pushing for years to have this formal apology made in the House of Commons,” added Kwan. The Komagata Maru tragedy is a reminder of a policy of discriminatory, unjust exclusion laws targeted towards the immigrant community. I am proud to be introducing this motion and I hope the government will act to finally bring justice and healing after 102 years.”
The motion reads as follows:
That, in the opinion of the House, a) the Komagata Maru tragedy, in which passengers were prevented from landing in Canada, is a reminder of a policy of discriminatory and unjust exclusion laws targeted towards the immigrant community, and b) the government should officially apologize in the House of Commons to the South Asian community and to the individuals impacted in the 1914 Komagata Maru incident.
Raj Singh, descendant, supports the motion and is seeking justice for his grandfather, Baba Puran Singh Janetpura, who was on the Komagata Maru. “The descendants of the Komagata Maru families want a respectful apology and formal recognition of this tragedy in the House of Commons by the Canadian Government,” said Singh.
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