Baba Gurdit Singh

Baba Gurdit Singh was a Sikh contractor and businessman from Sarhali in Amritsar district who chartered the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru in 1914 to carry Punjabis to Canada, in defiance of immigration rules that effectively barred Indians. After the ship was turned back from Vancouver and the shooting at Budge Budge near Calcutta, he evaded capture for seven years, surrendered in 1921, and later served in the Akali movement and the Congress.

Early life: The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he was born in 1861 (its entry on the ship gives 1860) into a Sandhu Sikh family at Sarhali. His father, Hukam Singh, migrated to Taiping in Malaya after a failed monsoon in 1870. Gurdit Singh joined him in 1885 and became a successful contractor.

The Komagata Maru: He founded the Guru Nanak Steamship Company and leased the Japanese ship, which was renamed Guru Nanak Jahaz. He was arrested on the eve of its departure from Hong Kong. The Encyclopaedia says he was held for three days; Canadian Sikh Heritage says he was arrested for selling tickets for an illegal voyage and released by the governor on 24 March 1914. The ship sailed on 4 April 1914 and reached Vancouver on 23 May with 376 Indians aboard, all but 30 of them Sikhs; only 22 who could prove Canadian domicile were allowed to land. The Encyclopaedia says he received revolutionary literature from the Ghadr leaders Maulawi Barkatullah and Gyani Bhagwan Singh, and that it was distributed among the passengers. After about two months at anchor, Canada provided supplies for the return voyage. At Budge Budge on 29 September 1914 the Sikh passengers refused to board a special train for Punjab, and the Encyclopaedia's entry on him says a clash left 18 Sikhs dead and 25 wounded.

Hiding, surrender and jail: He escaped arrest at Budge Budge and evaded capture for seven years. He surrendered at Nankana Sahib on 15 November 1921, was released on 28 February 1922, was arrested again on 7 March 1922 for alleged seditious speeches at the Golden Temple, and was held for four years. Canadian Sikh Heritage says Gandhi urged him to give himself up, and puts his imprisonment at five years.

In politics: In 1926 he was acting president of the Shiromani Akali Dal while Sarmukh Singh Jhabal was in jail. At the 1926 Gauhati session of the Congress he led a walk-out of 50 Sikh delegates over a resolution on the deposed ruler of Nabha. He was arrested three more times between 1931 and 1933. In 1937 he stood for the Punjab Legislative Assembly as a Congress nominee, losing to the Akali candidate Partap Singh Kairon. He died at Amritsar on 24 July 1954.

Key moments

• 4 April 1914: the ship sails; 23 May: it reaches Vancouver.
• 15 November 1921: he surrenders at Nankana Sahib.
• 24 July 1954: dies at Amritsar.

What he is remembered for: for chartering the ship that challenged Canada's exclusion of Indian immigrants.