By Harinder Mahil

The West Coast Coalition Against Racism (WCCAR) held a rally last Saturday to condemn the vandalism that took place last week at the Komagata Maru memorial in Vancouver. This was the second incident of vandalism in fourteen months. Back in August 2021, the memorial was defaced with white paint.

 This was a shocking incident of hate. Whoever did itis tryingto send a message that people depicted in the memorial photographs (who wear turbans) have no right to be in Canada and that there should not be a memorial like this.

The memorial was installed in 2013 to pay tribute to the 376 passengers aboard the Komagata Maru steamship, which travelled from India to Vancouver in May 1914. The passengers were not allowed to disembark from the ship due to racist immigration policies of the day. After two months, the ship’s passengers were forced to turn back. When they reached India, 20 were shot and killed and many others were jailed as political agitators.

In May 2008, the government of British Columbia officially apologized for the way the Komagata Maru's passengers were treated. 

In August 2008, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized at a fair organized by the South Asian community in Surrey, British Columbia. Many in the community were unhappy with the place chosen for this apology. They wanted it delivered in the House of Commons in Ottawa, where comparable Canadian government apologies for past injustices against other minorities had been made. 

On 18 May 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized for the incident before the House of Commons: “Today — while knowing that no words can fully erase the pain and suffering experienced by the passengers — I offer a sincere apology on behalf of the government for the laws in force at the time that allowed Canada to be indifferent to the plight of the passengers of the Komagata Maru.”

Unless we learn from our mistakes, we make those mistakes again. The memorial was erected because we recognize today that we must not allow racist immigration policies similar to those that existed in 1914.

We in WCCAR are extremely concerned about rise in incidents of hate in Canada. According to Statistics Canada in 2020, Canadian police reported 2,669 criminal incidents that were motivated by hate. This was the largest number recorded since comparable data became available in 2009. 

This, together with other expressions of hate towards members of minority communities shows that hate is a serious problem which must be confronted in this country. Putting an end to hate requires that community groups and all levels of government take concrete urgent action to address such outrages.

Hate crimes result in a disproportionate level of harm, which affects not only the individual, but also the victim’s community. Attacks, whether directed against individuals or communal institutions, have the effect of leaving entire communities feeling vulnerable and isolated. 

The members of our Coalition extend their solidarity to members of the South Asian community who are hurt by this vandalism. We stand with them against all forms of racism, bigotry and religious intolerance.

We call on police and the government authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident and deal with whoever has done this. More importantly, we call on the governments at all levels take steps to eradicate hate from our society.

Harinder Mahil is President of the West Coast Coalition Against Racism (WCCAR).