Shining a light on history

> Ranjit Singh Malhi highlights a dark moment of Canadian history in his book, The Komagata Maru Affair

The 64-year-old Malaysian historian and prolific author adds that the victims, being subjects of the British Empire, strongly believed that they had the same right as any British citizen to travel and settle anywhere in the British Empire, which included Canada.

“Unfortunately, they were not given the same treatment because they belonged to the wrong colour and religion.”

Ranjit says the incident spurred thousands of overseas Indians from different parts of the world to return home to expel the British from India.

While Ranjit admits he is not the first to have written about this event, he says he has rectified numerous errors found in earlier narratives.

“Factual accuracy is a prerequisite of any good historical work,” says the historian, who spent more than nine months researching the incident from archival and library sources in Malaysia, India and Canada, in his quest for the truth.

One major error concerns the origins of Gurdit. Many books had stated that he was from Singapore or Hong Kong, but Ranjit found out that Gurdit was a long-time resident of Serendah, Selangor.

Ranjit gives readers a deeper insight into who Gurdit was in his book, which has nine chapters in total, covering some 200 pages.

Gurdit was born into a poor peasant family in 1859 in the village of Sarhali Amritsar, a district of Punjab, India.

A drought affected the crops in his village and his father, Hukam Singh, immigrated to Malaya in the early 1870s to find a better life for his family.

Gurdit’s father worked for a Chinese businessman in Taiping and later joined the Perak police force as a

constable. Back in India, Gurdit had wanted to join the British Indian Army but was rejected due to his small-sized chest. In 1877, he emigrated to Malaya to join his father and brother Pehlu who had left India for Malaya earlier.

Gurdit worked for a Chinese pork dealer in Taiping, and later operated a dairy business. In the early 1890s, he moved to Serendah and became a successful contractor dealing with railway and road construction. He also planted rubber.

In 1913, Gurdit went to Hong Kong to pursue a case against a former business partner who had absconded with his money.

In Hong Kong, he met with some Indians who were keen to make a better life for themselves in Canada. It was then that he decided to make their dream a reality.

He chartered the Komagata Maru, a coal-transport steamship which had been converted into a cargo-cum-passenger ship with 533 bunks, for their journey.

Little did Gurdit realise that his action would spark a bitter and bloody incident, which would be talked about for years to come.

Ranjit has deliberately adopted a simple writing style in telling the story of the Komagata Maru. He wants the book to be read by not just academics, but also anyone interested in history and the issue of racial discrimination that still haunts our society to this day.

Ranjit says he is happy to see that things have drastically changed in Canada over the years, and the country has since become more racially diverse and tolerant. When Justin Trudeau became the prime minister in 2015, he appointed four ethnic Sikhs to his Cabinet. And on May 18, 2016, Trudeau, on behalf of the Canadian government, issued a formal apology for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident to a standing ovation in parliament. The Indian government is also currently building a memorial to the victims of the massacre at Budge Budge. There are also reports that Bollywood plans to make a movie on the incident.

“The important lesson we can learn from this is that we should always uphold racial equality and justice,” says Ranjit.

The Komagata Maru Affair will be launched on July 24 at the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur. The softcover copy (RM50), and hardcover copy (RM80) can be purchased directly from the author. Call 012– 3350 555 or email ranjit@tqm.com.my.