On Saturday, June 22, 2019, our community came together to celebrate the official opening of Komagata Maru Park, located at 10705 Bramalea Road in Brampton, commemorating the Komagata Maru incident.
This event was the first Canadian commemoration of the Komagata Maru incident outside of British Columbia. Brampton residents, dignitaries, and descendants of the survivors of the ship were in attendance.
The event featured a traditional smudging ceremony, remarks from Mayor Patrick Brown and Councillors Paul Vicente, Gurpreet Dhillon and Harkirat Singh, remarks from Cultural Educator Ej Kwandibens and Vice President of the Descendants of Komagata Maru Society Raj Toor, an official ribbon-cutting ceremony and a symbolic tree planting with descendants, the Mayor and Councillors.
Komagata Maru Park is a tribute to those who were on the SS Komagata Maru ship, and honours all immigrants and their struggles, triumphs and contributions to the mosaic of Canada. The ship departed from Hong Kong in May of 1914, transporting immigrants, largely from the Punjab region of India, to Canada. The ship was met by Canadian officials at the Port of Vancouver, and denied entry due to Canada’s Continuous Passage regulation, which was brought into force in 1908 in an effort to curb Indian immigration to Canada.
Komagata Maru Park’s playground equipment is designed around the idea of a ‘library in the park’. The shape of the slides, climbers and park equipment spell out the word “IMAGINE”. The “G” is the sitting area, the large climber is in the shape of an “N” and the splash pad sprayer is in the shape of an “M”. Amenities in the park include a playground, splash pad and picnic area. The park is located next to Springdale Library.
