From a Perspective of a Komagata Maru Passenger

Date: Day/Month, 1914 Dear [Recipient's Name], My name is Amrit, a 30-year-old man from the village of Chakwal in Punjab. I write to you to share my experience since I left my home to pursue a better life for myself and my family. I wanted to come to Canada because I heard stories of opportunities, prosperity, and the chance to build a new life. With a heavy heart, I left my family to try and make a better future for us. My journey began when I boarded the Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamship, in Hong Kong, full of excitement and hope. The journey across the ocean was filled with dreams of possibilities that lay ahead of us. When the ship finally arrived in Vancouver on the 23rd of May, I looked at the land with a sense of awe and wonder. I felt the anticipation of starting anew, of building a life here and bringing my family over once I had established myself. But the two months we spent in Vancouver harbour were far from what I had imagined. Our ship was not even allowed to dock, instead, we were anchored offshore, feeling stranded and isolated. We faced shortage of food and water, and the cramped, unsanitary conditions made living on the ship unbearable. As days turned into weeks, we heard of the growing antipathy against us by the Canadian government and its people, who did not want us to set foot on their soil. It felt like everything we had hoped for was fading away. The day finally came when we were escorted out of Vancouver on the 23rd of July. Armed vessels forced us to leave the harbor, and any hope we had left for a better life slipped through our fingers. It was a crushing blow, leaving our dreams shattered, and returning to those we hoped to provide for with empty hands. When the Komagata Maru reached Calcutta, India on September 27th, little did we know that our misfortunes had not ended. Upon our return, we were treated as political agitators and met with hostility. We disembarked the ship only to be confronted by British-Indian policemen, leading to a tragic incident that left many people, including me, arrested and imprisoned. Today, as I recount the events that unfolded, I wonder what could have been. The pain of leaving my homeland, the hope and despair I experienced, and our eventual tragic return – all of it leaves me with the question, "What if the people of Canada had chosen kindness and acceptance over prejudice and hostility?" Yours sincerely, Amrit