City of Burnaby Recognized Komagata Maru Passengers

Raj Singh Toor, grandson of one of the passengers on the Komagata Maru, and vice president and spokesperson for the non-profit Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society would like to thank Mayor of City of Burnaby, Mike Hurley and Councillors for recognizing the Komagata Maru passengers and passed the Motion unanimously below,

1. THAT Council issue a proclamation in May 2021 to mark Komagata Maru Remembrance Day.
2. THAT Council support recognition of the Komagata Maru with an interpretive sign, as outlined in Section 4.2 of the report.
3. THAT a copy of the report be forwarded to the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society.
4. THAT a copy of the report be forwarded to the Executive Committee of Council, the Community Heritage Commission, and the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission

The Komagata Maru Society consists of 15 families all over Canada who are direct descendants of the passengers (children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren). The South Asian community supports us because we are the ones who suffered in losing loved ones and deeply shared the pain of our parents, grandparents, or great grandparents being rejected by Canada in 1914.

On January 9, 2020, Raj wrote an email requesting that the City of Burnaby, Council recognize the suffering of the Komagata Maru passengers. He described the painful ordeal suffered by the passengers of the Komagata Maru.

Feb 5 2020, he spoke in the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL Meeting 5 minutes for recognizing the Komagata Maru passengers.

April 26, 2021, the City of Burnaby staff brought the Komagata Maru passengers recognition and Komagata Maru Proclamation report behalf of the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society request which was written by him. The City of Burnaby Council passed the Komagata Maru story interpretive Sign and Komagata Maru Proclamation unanimously.

It’s a great tribute to those passengers who experienced extreme hardship and suffering throughout the entire ordeal. Descendants of the

Komagata families and South Asian community and Canadians are happy.