Vancouver, BC: Amid shouts of "Bole So Nihal", Canada's British Columbia provincial assembly in Victoria city formally apologised for the Komagata Maru tragedy involving the treatment of South Asian passengers aboard the Komagata Maru after they were denied entry to Canada in 1914.
The apology came on the 94th anniversary of the vessel's arrival at Vancouver's harbour with 376 people on board after politicians voted unanimously to make the move.
The federal government has also said it will officially apologize for what has become known in Canadian history as the Komagata Maru incident, stemming from what some politicians say was a whites-only immigration policy.
The Komagata Maru was eventually forced to leave Canada for India.
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal says what happened to the people on board the Komagata Maru is unimaginable today, and the government has now acknowledged the racism encountered by the passengers and apologized for their suffering.
The legislature gallery was packed with members of B.C. Indo-Canadian community, many of whom have been lobbying for an apology for decades.
- By Gurmukh Singh
