Mother’s grief moved ex-dealer to talk to cops page 3
Hawks score 17 in two games page 33
Thursday February 13, 2014
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‘They were not illegal immigrants’ One hundred years on, a Surrey family remembers the Komagata Maru by Boaz Joseph IN 1965, PURAN SINGH JANETPURA, then in his early 80s, was offered a
BOAZ JOSEPH / THE LEADER
Raj (left) and Jaswinder Toor, descendants of a Komagata Maru passenger, are taking part in the opening of a museum exhibit marking the 100th anniversary of the ship’s arrival on the B.C. coast.
chance by his family to join them in Canada from his native Punjab. Although he predicted – accurately – that his family and descendants would live prosperous and educated lives in their new country, he refused to go. He was still bitter, more than 50 years after an incident that affected his life, as well as relations between Canada and India. In 1914, Janetpura, 30, was preparing for the trip of a lifetime. He was already well educated, having studied at an English-language high school in Ludhiana, Punjab, and had studied telecommunications at the University of Amethi. He was told at the time that any Indian was part of the British Commonwealth and would be welcome to study further in Canada. In March of that year, with $200 for a head tax and a passport in hand, Janetpura – dressed in a suit, tie and turban – boarded the Komagata Maru in Calcutta. He was passenger No. 235 on a ship that would become legend. After two months at sea, the 376 passengers were refused entry in Vancouver for two months, from May 23 to July 23, 1914. Local officials cited the Continuous Passage Regulation, which stated that all immigrants must come directly from their country of origin. Due to the great distance between India and Canada, this was impossible, as ships required a stopover. The Komagata Maru had stopped in Hong Kong. It was in fact pressure from the white community that kept the passengers on the ship, deprived of food, water and medicine. Only the assistance from the 3,000-strong Sikh community in the Lower Mainland kept the 376 people alive. See DESCENDANTS / Page 4
Clayton queue-jumpers rankle mayor, councillor City to probe possibility of re-zoning lots prior to NCP by Tyler Orton A FEW Surrey developers are one
step closer to bypassing a community consultation process and jumping the queue to rezone property in East Clayton.
Surrey city council approved a measure on Feb. 3 to investigate the possibility of re-zoning lots straddling the Surrey-Langley border before a Neighbourhood Concept Plan (NCP) has been approved. Mayor Dianne Watts and Coun.
Barinder Rasode were the only two on city council to vote against the measure. “It gives some developers unfair advantages over others. Other developers around the city have See CLAYTON / Page 5
EVAN SEAL / THE LEADER
A development sign sits across from new homes near 72 Avenue and 190 Street. Efforts to create an Neighbourhood Concept Plan for East Clayton stretch back to 2005.
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