On this day 22 passengers on the ship Komagata Maru were killed when the police fired on them.
Most of the passengers on the ship were Sikhs. The Vancouver-bound Komagata Maru, carrying Indians who wanted to migrate to Canada, had started from British Hong Kong in April, 1914, and reached Canada via Shanghai, China, and Yokohama and Japan, picking up the passengers. Of the 376 passengers, 337 were Sikhs, 27 Muslims and 12 Hindus.
When the ship reached Vancouver on May 23, the Canadian authorities were not keen to receive Indian immigrants and were wary that many of the passengers were engaged with the Ghadar Party, founded by expatriate Indians to organise an international movement to overthrow the British in India. The authorities did not allow the ship to dock and only allowed a few passengers entry into Canada.
The ship was turned back and reached Budge Budge, near Calcutta, on September 29. When the police tried to arrest the leaders of the passengers, a riot took place. The police opened fire and 22 people died.
This day is observed as Komagata Maru Day.