Requests for National Commemoration on July 23 Every Year
New Delhi/Chandigarh, 23rd July
Rajya Sabha member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal has written a letter to the Vice Chairman of Rajya Sabha to recognize the Komagata Maru ship as the ‘Guru Nanak Jahaj(ship)’ in history and to commemorate July 23 every year on a national level. In his letter, he mentioned that 111 years ago, on July 23, 1914, the Guru Nanak Jahaj departed from Canada to return to India. The ship reached Kolkata’s Bajbaj Ghat on September 29, 1914, where the British government opened fire, martyring 19 passengers.
Baba Gurdit Singh Ji had boarded the Komagata Maru ship to travel from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada. The ship left Hong Kong on April 4, 1914, and reached the shores of Vancouver on May 23, 1914. However, the Canadian authorities refused to allow the passengers to disembark, even though the ship met all the required conditions. After standing at the Canadian seashore for two months, the ship departed Canada on July 23, 1914. Baba Gurdit Singh Ji had made the decision to send the ship to Canada because the Canadian government had imposed a ban on the entry of Indians.
MP Sant Seechewal stated that the ship, which is recorded in history as “Komagata Maru,” was actually named ‘Guru Nanak Jahaj.’ The Ghadar Sikh leader Baba Gurdit Singh Ji, who was aboard the ship, had registered the ship through the company named Guru Nanak Steamship. The ship also carried the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the Sangat performed Shabad Kirtan on board. There were a total of 376 passengers on the ship, including 340 Sikhs, 12 Hindus, and 24 Muslims. The tickets for the ship were marked with the name ‘Guru Nanak Jahaj.’
The book written by Baba Gurdit Singh Ji, “The Heartbreaking Story of the Passengers of Sri Guru Nanak Jahaj,” is a rare document of this event. Similarly, historian Dr. Gurdev Singh Siddhu’s book “Sri Guru Nanak Jahaj (Komagata Maru Ship: A Contemporary Account)” also reveals that the ship was named ‘Guru Nanak Jahaj.’
Sant Seetewal, through his letter, strongly urged that the ship be remembered in history as ‘Guru Nanak Jahaj,’ and that a resolution be passed in the Rajya Sabha to honor the martyrs who were aboard the ship.
