A story of Sikh migrants throughout B.C.’s historic settlement
ਜੈਸਮੀਨ ਕੌਰ ਗਰਚਾ | Jasmine Garcha (she/her) // Arts and Culture Editor
Meharveen Manchanda (she/her) // Illustrator
From Instagram comment sections to being called “foreign trash” on the street, racism against Sikhs is alive and well in the Lower Mainland. Sikhs are widely criticized for being on this land and are told to go back to India, where the political climate does not serve them, either. What goes unrecognized is that Sikhs have pioneered life in B.C., making a home for those living in the province, providing food and education and fighting for the Asian vote.
It’s believed that Sikh migration to B.C. started after British subjects from several Asian countries visited the province in 1897 and saw the immigrant settlement. The province became a migration destination for South Asians, with the first large wave of Sikh migration to B.C. in 1904. Many worked in mills, on farms or logging across the Lower Mainland.
Guru Nanak Mining and Trust was established in 1909 to acquire agricultural land that South Asians worked on. The right to citizenship—including the right to vote and own land—was given to Asians in B.C. in 1947 after years of protests, including the “No Vote, No War” campaign which pointed out that conscription was an unreasonable requirement for residents who weren’t allowed to vote.
Khalsa Diwan Society was established in 1906. Arthur Erickson—who designed famous architecture like Simon Fraser University and Robson Square—redesigned the society’s gurdwara on Marine Drive and Ross Street in 1969, replacing the gurdwara which was widely regarded as North America’s first. Khalsa Diwan Society organizes Punjabi classes within gurdwaras, computer training courses for new immigrants and puts together the Vaisakhi parade in April. They even had a part to play in the Komagata Maru incident through political and financial support.
The Guru Nanak Jahaz, originally named the Komagata Maru before setting sail, was a ship carrying 376 passengers, of whom 340 were Sikh, as well as the crew who were Japanese. They arrived at Vancouver Harbour in 1914, but the Canadian government refused to let them dock due to anti-immigration regulations that required immigrant vessels to arrive in a single journey with no stops.
After two hungry months and an attack by police forces, the Guru Nanak Jahaz returned to India where the British opened fire, killing tens and imprisoning hundreds. Baba Gurdit Singh, one of the survivors who chartered the ship, went into hiding for years after this incident so that somebody would live to tell the tale.
The Canadian government has since issued apologies for this tragic incident, commemorating it at Canada Place with a memorial monument and the renaming of a street to Komagata Maru Place. The Vancouver Art Gallery also displays a figurine of the ship above one of the entrances as part of Ken Lum’s “Four Boats Stranded” installation. The Maritime Museum, despite its name and theme, has never commemorated the incident.
In 1916, the historic town of Paldi was founded on Vancouver Island. Paldi was originally named Mayo after one of the founders, Mayan Singh Manhaas, who went by Mayo because he thought that it would be easier for Westerners to pronounce. The town’s name was changed to mirror the name of the Punjabi town from which Manhaas and his family had migrated. They were businessmen, founding a lumber company that operated for many years. Manhaas donated to Indian charities, garnering the attention of the first Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who visited the town in 1949.
Paldi Gurdwara was established in 1919. After undergoing multiple renovations, it still stands in the town today under heritage site preservation. Next to the gurdwara were the bunkhouses where millworkers of majority Indian, Chinese and Japanese descent stayed with their families. The mill burned down multiple times and the safety of the immigrant workers was neglected.
Many locals from the town have since migrated into more populated areas of B.C. Although Paldi is often referred to as a ghost town, local filmmaker Monica Cheema insists on the contrary based on her time spent in the town to create her short film Paldi, A Place Like This.
Cheema’s film showcases the local Punjabi community working toward keeping history intact and pushing for full historical preservation to restrict development. A woman’s voice narrates, reading a letter. While an older man points at countless black and white photos on the walls, explaining who from each picture belongs to which family, the woman reads, “ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਬੜੀਆਂ ਕਹਾਣੀਆਂ ਦੱਸੀਆਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਜਾ ਰਹੀਆਂ । ਪਰ ਤੁ ਫਿਰ ਇਹ ਵੇਖੋ । ਇਹ ਕੰਧਾਂ ਉੱਥੇ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਪਾਇਆ ਹਨ ।” This roughly translates to, “Many of our stories aren’t being told. But, then you look here. They’re written all over the walls.”
In the 1970s, there was an influx of Sikh migrants working on farms in Richmond. They would start their days early, picking berries, tilling the soil and preparing the harvest. Although laws protecting labour workers had already been enacted, they didn’t apply to immigrants, who were often given lower wages and more work.
The Maan Family migrated to Abbotsford during this period. Established by Jawahar and Gurbachan Maan, the farms became famous for their berries. The empire built by Maan Farms continues to attract people from around B.C. to their autumn events including the Halloween corn maze and pumpkin patch, and year-round for various events including goat yoga.
To this day, many farmworkers in B.C. are Sikh, working to feed the population which aligns with the teachings of Sikhi’s first Guru, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who taught, “Love all, feed all.” This is the motto of Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen, a non-profit that operates out of Surrey. Every weekend, volunteers can be found on the Downtown Eastside handing out food made at the gurdwara. Gurdwaras in B.C., as any gurdwaras, also serve food for as long as they’re open and the doors are open to all.
These are the people being told to go back to their country; the same ones who have worked to build this one and feed its people.