The City of Vancouver Staff presented the Komagata Maru Place Street Sign to Raj Singh Toor of the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society , who has been a passionate advocate for keeping afresh the memory of the tragic incident and keeping alive the memory of the ship’s passengers, some of whom had to sacrifice their lives when the ship was turned back to India. Toor was recognized for his five years of advocacy to help bring awareness to the sacrifices of the Komagata Maru passengers.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff

VANCOUVER – The City of Vancouver Staff presented the Komagata Maru Place Street Sign to Raj Singh Toor of the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society , who has been a passionate advocate for keeping afresh the memory of the tragic incident and keeping alive the memory of the ship’s passengers, some of whom had to sacrifice their lives when the ship was turned back to India. Toor was recognized for his five years of advocacy to help bring awareness to the sacrifices of the Komagata Maru passengers.

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

On March 16, 2018, I wrote an email on behalf of the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society to the City of Vancouver and requested for a street, building, park, or place to be named in memory of the Komagata Maru passengers. Vancouver City Council considered my request and sent the matter to the Civic Assets Naming Committee. On June 25, 2018, the committee unanimously approved the request and put the name “Komagata Maru” on the Civic Asset Name Reserve List. On March 13, 2019, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved the following motion:

THAT Council shows its support for the naming of a civic asset in the Downtown area near the Burrard Inlet waterfront after the Komagata Maru.

THAT Council direct City staff to work with Park Board staff and with the Civic Asset Naming Committee and the ‘Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society’ to try to find an asset to name.

May 30, 2023, Canada Place Secondary name Komagata Maru place approved unanimously by City of Vancouver Council on my request.

“It’s taken me 5 years of advocating and now the City of Vancouver recognized the Komagata Maru passengers through a street naming. Descendants of the Komagata Maru families extremely happy,” Toor said.

 “In 2023 myself and the City of Vancouver staff agreed that acknowledging the Komagata Maru incident would provide a meaningful opportunity for the community to reflect on systemic racism in Canada. City of Vancouver staff agreed that primary street Canada Place be provided a secondary honouray name Komagata Maru Place in memory of the Komagata Maru passengers to increase awareness of the struggles that many went through and to inspire people to fight discrimination and foster inclusion to help us create a better future. We are extremely happy. It’s a great tribute to those passengers who suffered a lot during the tragedy,” Toor said.

Last week June 7, 2022 City of Vancouver staffs Caroline Hulbert presented the Komagata Maru Place Street Sign to Toor for his advocacy since March 16, 2018 for recognizing the Komagata Maru passengers.