The 40-year Struggle: 1907 -1914 - Fight against the immigration ban & WWI

WW1 Sikh Soldiers. Photo courtesy of The South Asian Studies Institute.

Sikhs with Gas masks WW2. Photo courtesy of (Pardeep)

Image of a group of sikh soldiers walking down the street in Place de l'Opéra in front of a crowd of people.

Sikh Calvary. Photo courtesy of Pardeep

Despite the lack of respect and second rate citizenship accorded to the Canadian South Asians by people of European descent, the number of soldiers from India who chose to serve under the British flag as part of the British Indian Army in WWI is staggering.

There is a story of an important shared heritage of Punjabis and Canadians.
The British Indian Armys Punjabi soldiers played a pivotal role in the defence and establishment of the Western Front in WWI a line that would forge the Ypres salient where Canada would find glory in the actions of Vimy Ridge. The British Indian Army directly fought side by side with Canadian expeditionary force in joint engagements on the western front. In April 1915 both Indian Punjabi troops and Canadians were killed in the first use of chemicals in warfare at St Julien. Thousands of British Army Punjabi soldiers are buried side by side with the Canadians in the cemeteries of northern France and Belgium. Over 7,000 Punjabis were killed on the Western Front. By the end, 4 years later, Canada had over 65,000 casualties and the British Indian Army, in engagements across all theatres of war, had lost over 76,000 men of whom the majority were Punjabis.

Magazine cover for The War Pictures Weekly and the London Illustrated Weekly no. 43 vol. II

Magazine cover for the September 18, 1915 issue of The War Budget Illustrated. The cover illustration features a sikh soldier carrying a machine gun.

Postcard image of a sikh soldier and British soldier walking side by side with the flags for the United Kingdom and the Star of India flag used when the Indian subcontinent was under British occupation. The postcard caption reads: "Comrades; 'India, with no less alacrity, has claimed her share in the common task. Every class and creed, British and Native, Princes and People, Hindoos and Mahometans, vie with one another in a noble and emulous rivalry. Two divisions of her magnificent Army are already on their way.' -From the Guildhall Speech of The Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of Great Britain."

Postcard illustration of four soldiers representing Canada, India, Australia, and Great Britain. A stanza from McDermott's warsong is included, reading "We don't want to fight, but by jingo, if we do, we've got men, and coin and chips, and guns, to see it through, and through & through"

Image of a group of sikh soldiers standing in trenches, while another group sets up barbed wire fencing along the edge.

Why after years of dedication and defense, would our service to the Imperial Army and the British Indian Army not be recognized by Canadians? Are my chacha jis and grandfathers military service to the crown not honourable? Why does my turban, a sign of my Sikh faith and an article of faith as assigned by the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji cause such discomfort to others? My pagh is my pride, and my faith is a sign of my dedication. - Bishan Singh

The 40-year Struggle - 1907 -1914: Komagata Maru

Crowd hanging off the Komagata Maru ship, 1914. Photo courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives

Komagata Maru in Vancouver Harbor, 1914. Photo courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives

Scene in Vancouver Harbor, July 21, 1914 H.M.S. Rainbow, called to aid in deporting the South Asians on board the Komagata Maru. Photo courtesy of The Vancouver Public Library.

Komagata Maru ship Leaving Vancouver, 1914. Photo courtesy of the Vancouver Public Library.

Onlookers on wharf watching the Komagata Maru, 1914. Photo courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.

The tireless work of countless activists and volunteers has in 2016 brought national recognition to a Canadian wrong that carries symbolic meaning to South Asians. A little over a hundred years later the Provincial and Federal apology and recognition of the Komagata Maru tragedy (1914) has been heartening for the South Asian community in Canada. While memorials have been erected in BC to observe a Canadian tragedy, the work to eliminate racial injustices continues and we are ever vigilant to the need for equitable and just laws for all Canadians.

Beyond the tragic moments and incidents itself, what should be emphasized is that the Komagata Maru incident is one of the best examples in all of Canadian history, which shows this incident within national borders and its connections to, and embedments within broader conversations across the globe and the imperial history in which Canada is embedded.

What has received less attention perhaps has been the passionate writing by the charterer of the boat, Mr. Gurdit Singh. There is much speculation and stories about the motivations of the man behind the incident which had National and Global impact; however, his writing on the experience deserves due recognition:

On racism in Canada in particular, Gurdit Singh exhibits awareness and affect when he writes in his autobiography Voyage of the Komagata Maru or Indias Slavery Abroad:

But what about the Indians who are said to be British subjects protected by their benign government? What most grievously hurt them was that Indians living in Canada had sent for their wives and children who purchased tickets up to Hong Kong (as there was no direct steam ship service to Canada) and thence to Canada. When they were about to land the Canadian government stopped them with an order to return back to Hong Kong.
Pause for a moment to imagine the hearth-rending scene on the docks. Fathers had come to receive their children, husbands had come to receive their wives but the Canadian Governments brutal order stood between them. To sigh and shed tears in silence was all they could do .

The 40-year Struggle - 1907 -1919: Rise & Fall of Ghadar

Ghadar Headquarters, San Francisco, ca. 1950. Photo courtesy of Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, South Asians in North America Collection.

Ram Chandra, Editor Hindustan Gadar. Photo courtesy of of the South Asian American Digital Archives.

Parade in Stockton, California, ca. 1920. Photo courtesy of AmericanTurban.com.

In the early 20th century, Indian migrants living in British Columbia and North American faced constant racism and discrimination. Meanwhile in India, those peoples had been dealing with over one hundred years of racism and abuse because of British Colonialism. Thus, in June, 1913 a meeting of minds met under the guidance of Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Har Dayal to form the Hindu Association of the Pacific Coast which would later be known as the Ghadar (mutiny) party. The aim of this party was very simple-to advocate for an independent India.

News clipping from the San Francisco Chronicle on Ghadar Party member Har Dayal.

The main newspaper for the party was the Ghadr newspaper. In its inaugural issue on November 1, 1913, the Ghadr printed some of the most powerful words of propaganda ever seen through this advertisement which summarized the nature of this revolutionary movement:
Pay: Death
Prize: Martyrdom
Pension: Liberty
Field of Battle: India

The Ghadar party also used the art of poetry. This can be seen in its greatest form through the Ghadar Di Gunj (Echoes of Mutiny), which was an amazing anthology of Ghadar party poetry which published a first run of 12,000 copies. One very short, but powerful example of a poem in this anthology reads:
No Pandits or Mullahs do we need,
No prayers or litanies we need recite,
These will only scuttle our boat.
Draw the sword, its time to fight.

Many ghadarites had local lower mainland, Vancouver and Abbotsford connections as they were known to give powerful oral speeches at the gurdwaras.

It is the Time for Mutiny

The Poetry of the Ghadar Party

It is the time for mutiny, why do you still in Hindustan live.
Life is not eternal, why are you towards the war abortive.
Gather your respect and pride, why are you carrying the load of others.
If now death scares you, why did you give Gadar its feathers.
Find happiness in what you have, why you have addicted yourself to slavery.
Army men, what form of insanity is this, why are you misusing your bravery.
Better to rot in hell than be a slave, why have you yourself enchained.
Europeans have defeated the British, why are you of all your efforts drained.
Hindustanis don't waste efforts now, let's quickly set the passion blazing,
Time waits for none, it would be no use later lamenting.
Primarily we need to preach mutiny, the second priority should be practice.
It is important to teach our fellows in the army, let's invade and fight injustice.
Critical it is to instruct the villagers, to demonstrate the echo of gadar.
Once the ice is broken, nothing requires to be hidden under.
Those who have served in the army know the tricks, the trade and the function.
Be prompt in gathering the arms, truth here needs no description.
Confiscate the ammunition, capture the forts with precision.
The fort we cannot abduct, lets encompass and reach,
Stand vigilant around, their neccesities seize.
Let English die of starvation, there would be no need of missiles
Snap their connections, make the wireless futile.

Today I heard the most beautiful and powerful poetry being recited at the Abbotsford Gur Sikh Gurdwara. We had a special speaker, Balwant Singh, recite a poem from the Ghadar movement. The poem talked about all of the discrimination and hate we have faced in Canada and America. We were treated like slaves in our homeland of India, and now I am treated like a slave here. We are paid less for doing more work, abused physically and not given any rights such as the right to vote. What can we do? What should I do? Should I go back home? But is Canada not my home now? What do I tell my family in India? To my father, who sold our precious ancestral land so that I could come to Canada and make a new life for myself? - Bishan Singh

The 1920s

MP W.G. McQuarrie. Photo courtesy of BC Archives.

MP S.W. Jacobs. Photo courtesy of Canadian Jewish Heritage Network.

MP Richard McBride. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

South Asian migrants in the early 20th century certainly faced their moments of angst, discrimination and struggle; however, it is just as important to recognize the immense successes. By 1923, 102 South Asians owned: logging camps, lumber companies, shingle factories, grocery stores, fuel dealerships and farms.

Front cover of a transcript of the House of Commons debate during the second session of the thirteenth parliament.

The business-owning and successful labour class working South Asians considered themselves Canadian on all aspects in terms of their contribution to building the country; however, without the right to vote, they still saw themselves as second class citizens. The 1920 Dominion Franchise Bill which denied the federal vote to anyone barred from the provincial vote on the account of race was especially shocking to some in attendance at the 1921 Imperial Conference. During this Conference, a resolution was passed that specifically granted South Asians in the Dominions the right to vote. Clearly, the Imperial conversations were not being transferred to its Dominions.

Whereas some politicians such as Liberal MP S.W. Jacobs supported the South Asian vote, others such as MP MacBride countered with aggressive Anti-Asian sentiment, declaring:

we in British Columbia want no more HindusWe have on the coat of British Columbia Chinamen and Japs running our stores. They are running white people out. We have the Greeks running our hotels and we have the Jews running our second-hand stores, and now some people want to bring in the Hindus to run our mills.If this country wants to cast British Columbia adrift let her cast it adrift before any Orientals come in. If they do, we white people out on the Pacific will prevent any more Orientals coming to British Columbia.

In the end, and by the close of the 1920s, the British Columbia government reaffirmed its stand by maintaining racial restrictions in the Provincial Elections Act of 1924, which disenfranchised all Asians except Japanese who had fought in World War I.