Dec 13, 2010: 
Members of Vancouver's Sikh community gathered Sunday at the Ross Street Temple to applaud the announcement of federal funding for two projects commemorating the 1914 Komagata Maru incident in which 376 immigrants from the Punjab were refused entry to Canada.
"This should have happened a long time ago," Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney told the crowd at the temple.
The Khalsa Diwan Society will receive $82,500 to work with the Vancouver park board to design and locate a memorial to the Komagata Maru.
An additional $104,000 will provide seed money to develop a museum dedicated to the incident. The museum will be located in an existing building on the site of the temple.
The Vancouver park board has invited public consultation on the site of the proposed memorial.
Members of the Khalsa Diwan Society worked with the board to apply for funding from the federal Community Historical Recognition program for the monument and were on hand to hear the announcement.
The Khalsa Diwan Society, a community organization formed in 1906 to address the cultural, religious and political needs of Indian immigrants, was directly involved in community response to the Komagata Maru incident 96 years ago.
During the incident, those aboard the ship were denied the right to disembark after the vessel was prevented from docking in Vancouver's harbour.
A two-month standoff followed, during which the passengers were denied supplies, including food.
The Khalsa Diwan Society formed a "shore committee," spiriting food and necessities aboard to help keep the passengers alive.
Eventually the ship was forced to return to India, where it came under fire from British soldiers.
Approximately 20 passengers were killed.
Jack Uppal, past president of the Khalsa Diwan Society, said the society has been working for at least 15 years to raise awareness and seek redress for the incident. "This is very important to newcomers and members of our community to finally have this injustice redressed."
Uppal still recalls the stories his father told him about smuggling food and water onto the ship in an effort to keep the immigrants alive. "Those people were British subjects, and they didn't even let them off the ship."
Mohinder Gill, also a prominent member of the Vancouver Sikh community, said: "A great injustice was done. Now the government has recognized and apologized for the injustice and offered our community a chance to come together."
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