Vancouver's Komagata Maru memorial vandalized

UPDATE, Aug. 23, 2021: The Vancouver Police Department said it is investigating the vandalism as a possible hate crime.

A memorial in Vancouver meant to acknowledge a racist chapter in Canada's history has been defaced with white paint.

Nearly 400 people were aboard the Komagata Maruin 1914 when it was turned away from Canada due to racist laws at the time. Raj Singh Toor, whosegrandfather was one of them, speaks for the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society.

"It's a very, very terrible incident and it's very sad,"Toorsaid Sunday evening from the memorial, where white paint was spread on a list of the names of people who had been aboard the ship.

"This should not be happening here."

The City of Vancouver said Sunday in a statement it was "saddened" to learn the memorial had been defaced, noting workers will be sentto remove the paint.

"While it is not clear what the motivation was, it shows disrespect to those who travelled and suffered on the ship and to their families," the statement said about the vandalism.

Toorhopes police will investigate the vandalism. Calls tothe Vancouver Police Department were not immediately returned.

People on social media began posting images, video and expressions of dismay at the vandalismSunday afternoon.

Later on Sunday a man at the memorial, who did not want to be identified, arrived with brushes and cleaning products and began scrubbing awaythe paint.

"This is not my Vancouver," he said.

The Komagata Maru memorial was installed in 2013 along the waterfront in Vancouver's Coal Harbour neighbourhood.

A century earlier, in 1914, the steamship of the same name arrived in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet with hundreds of people aboard, mostly from the Punjab region of India, who were planning for a new life in Canada.

However, after two months in the harbour, the vessel was forced to return to India with everyone on board. There were 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus who were never let off the boat in Vancouver. Theydid not have appropriate medical aid, food or water.

The vessel, which was a Japanese charter ship, was forced to turn back because of racist laws aimed at curtailing Asian immigration to Canada at the time.

Upon its return to India, 19 passengers were shot and killed. Others were injured or jailed after being considered political agitators.

In 2008 and 2016, the province and Ottawa each formally apologized for the act of discrimination.

In June 2020 Vancouver City Council unanimously passed a motion to formally apologize for actions of members of the 1914 city council regarding the Komagata Maru incident and declare May 23 as "Komagata Maru Remembrance Day."

The city said the apology was part of a broader ongoing effort to educate decision-makers and the public aboutthe human rights violations against people of South Asian descent.