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Komagata Maru: Pasts, Presents, Futures
The journey of the Komagata Maru is an important marker of Canada’s racist history. Rungh has been documenting parts of this history since 1992.
In this Initiative page, Rungh has assembled sections from Rungh’s Roots Issue, Volume 2, Number 1 & 2 from 1994. The video screened in the Main Block of the Parliament buildings after the official Government of Canada’s Komagata Maru apology on May 18, 2016 is also included. It was screened right after the apology at an official event attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The video is an edited version of Ali Kazimi’s Continuous Journey (2004) film.
As a part of this process of documenting the Komagata Maru, and the cultural work related to it, Rungh is now including articles about the "Komagata Maru Mural Project: Taike-sye ye" which mural was a part of the Vancouver Mural Festival in 2019. Rungh has republished an the article "Did Indigenous Paddlers Smuggle Food to the Komagata Maru?" which was originally published in The Conversation. In addition, Rungh is publishing for the first time the article "True Both to History, and to Solidarity" in Volume 8, Number 3. Further, Rungh is also publishing for the first time, in its Samachar/News section, "A Response to The Tyee About the Taike-Sye ye Mural" by Ali Kazimi. The letter is a response to The Tyee article "This Mural Tells a Beautiful Tale of Cultural Solidarity. But Did It Really Happen?". We urge you to read all the written pieces related to the mural to gain a better understanding of the "conversation" which has taken place and what is at issue.
True Both to History, and to Solidarity
Scholars challenge the Vancouver Mural Festival story of the Taike-sye’yə Mural.
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Did Indigenous Paddlers Smuggle Food to the Komagata Maru?
Rungh has republished this article from The Conversation to keep track of a conversation which is developing around the “Komagata Maru Mural Project: Taike-sye’yə."
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Komagata Maru Apology
On May 18, 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized on behalf of the Government of Canada for the Komagata Maru incident. This short video was created by Ali Kazimi in commemoration of the this event and was screened at a ceremony on Parliament Hill on the same day.
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A Letter to the Maru, 1914, dated 1994
Read poet Phinder Dulai's letter to the "unknown passenger, who I will call Ranjeet..." who has "unwillingly sacrificed" himself to "the greatest of endeavours: the song of freedom".
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From the Roots: When the Ship Came In
In The Roots Issue, Volume 2, No. 1 & 2, Rungh surveyed a portion of the South Asian histories of Canada. This excerpt includes a brief history of the Komagata Maru and excerpts from the Hindustanee – The Official Organ of the United India League and the Vancouver Daily Province.
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