One hundred years ago a ship named the Komagata Maru dropped anchor in Vancouver with 376 passengers on board. The majority of these passengers were Sikh men (and British subjects) intending to immigrate to Canada.
The journey was a challenge to a Canadian law that prevented immigration aboard ships that had not travelled by ‘continuous journey’ from their country of origin.
Most passengers were prevented from ever leaving the ship. It sat moored for two months while immigration officials argued in support of the entry ban and the courts deliberated before being forced out and back to India, where they were shot at by British Indian troops where most men were killed, injured, imprisoned or forced into exile.
The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley is marking this pivotal moment in Canadian and British Empire history with a specially commissioned play. That Land Beyond the Waves will debut on Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium (with a matinee performance to follow on Nov. 2).
That Land Beyond the Waves plays Sat, Nov 1 at 7 pm and Sun, Nov 2 at 2 pm at the Matsqui Centennial Auditoriam. Doors open 30 minutes before the performance. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for students.
Tickets available through the UFV Bookstore or contact sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca for more information.
11/02/2014