Komagata Maru Memorial Budge Budge


Komagata Maru was a Japanese ship in which the Sikh nationalist Gurdith Singh was arrested for protesting against the Exclusion Laws in Canada in 1914. The passengers consisted 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus – all British subjects.

In spite being British, they were not allowed to enter Canada and was sent back due to Exclusion Laws for British with Indian origins. Komagata Maru anchored in nearby Budge Budge and some trivial incidents caused indiscriminate police firing by the British soldiers, which caused the death of 20 nationalists and house arrest of many more. Often termed as the Budge Budge Riot, a memorial still stands on the banks of the Hooghly River remembering this massacre. Today, a memorial also stands in Vancouver, Canada from where Komagata Maru departed.