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The Komagata Maru incident

Zahie Hosain

Interdisciplinary Studies (IDST) Program: Economics, Commerce and History
"Colonial Narratives and Media Framing: Economic and Political Implications of the Komagata Maru Incident in The Daily Colonist and The Rhodesia Herald"


The Komagata Maru incident, which occurred in 1914, involved a Japanese ship that was transporting about 400 immigrants from India. For a number of reasons, including the immigrants' failure to bring the required amount of money, the ship was refused entry into Canada. In terms of historical colonialism, the incident is significant as it offers insights into the broader themes of colonial racial discrimination and how colonial policies affected people from all over the world. Additionally, it also combines the themes of international diplomatic tensions with community resilience, as evidenced by the legal disputes that followed and the Indian community's mobilization to organize protests and contend their rights.1 Media coverage being the main source of information available at the time, was crucial in raising awareness of the incident, underscoring the influence of media over public opinion. Due to the incident's racial and colonial undertones, several publications quickly reported on it, creating a real-time prism through which one can study the colonial interests inherent in media during the era. Examining the media coverage of the incident gives a framework for determining the role of newspapers in reporting circumstances, whether biased or unbiased. More specifically, newspapers such as The Rhodesia Herald and The Daily Colonist allow for the exploration of colonial interests and whether they shaped media narratives. Therefore, this paper investigates the Komagata Maru incident’s coverage by focusing on the two aforementioned publications, The Daily Colonist and The Rhodesia Herald, and argues that the disparity in the level and style of coverage by both publications is due to the colonial interests and experiences of the newspapers' respective colonial contexts, highlighting the impact of colonial environments in influencing media narratives during the early twentieth century.

Newspaper media functioned as a significant tool for colonial ideologies because colonial authorities imposed control over what information was disseminated in newspapers and how it was disseminated, making them vehicles for colonial propaganda. Curated to promote colonial ambitions, the information disseminated frequently obscured the real sequence of events in favor of the intended exotic and altruistic image and ideologies of colonists. The journal "Will There Be a Morning After?" The Colonial History of the Media in New Caledonia'' by Alaine Chanter describes a similar colonial entity in New Caledonia exerting power to establish local organizations controlling and managing the press in order to voice their own interests. The author demonstrates this by demonstrating a link between political power and discourse management, finally highlighting administrative attempts to control the media.2 One way colonial authorities attempted to control the press was by portraying everyone who was not colonial negatively. Carmen Robertson, a researcher at Carleton University, conducted research on how Indigenous Peoples are portrayed in the media, including preconceptions such as 'uncivilized' and ‘savage3'. While North America was being colonized in the early nineteenth century, Indigenous Peoples were exposed to the media in a negative light, and those stereotypes have continued on through decades and are still prevalent in mainstream media. This demonstrates the impact of colonial press control and how deeply colonial beliefs are embedded in the media or society. Analyzing these articles sets the stage to examine the two publications in question, The Daily Colonist and The Rhodesia Herald.

The rationale for selecting these publications is based on the colonial affairs of the publications. The Daily Colonist was chosen for its ties to the British Empire, as well as because it was primarily published in British Columbia, the location of the Komagata Maru incident. The publication provides a direct perspective of locals while also providing an opportunity to determine whether it promotes colonial policies. On the contrary, The Rhodesia Herald provides an international perspective on the incident. Although the publication is still associated with the British empire, it would fall under a different colonial context, allowing for a perspective outside of the direct parties involved. It is worth noting that The Daily Colonist was not directly controlled by the colonists because British Columbia was a settler colony rather than a colony controlled directly by the colonists. As a result, The Daily Colonist is widely regarded as a publication that primarily served the interests of local settlers rather than illustrating colonial policies. The Rhodesia Herald, on the other hand, was published in modern-day Zimbabwe, which was under direct colonial rule. Because The Rhodesia Herald was established during the colonial period, it would be expected that the dissemination of information in it would be consistent with general colonial policies. Regardless, the same analytical framework will be applied to both publications. More specifically, the content, language, tone, and themes of three articles from each publication will be examined. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the two publications will be carried out in order to further scrutinize the thesis statement.

When analyzing The Rhodesia Herald's coverage of the Komagata Maru incident, the combination of all three newspaper articles reveals dynamic colonial perspectives of British Columbia as a province. The first article, titled 'Government's Intention'4 depicts the government's determination to adhere strictly to the immigration laws against the Hindus who boarded the Komagata Maru Steamship. "We intend to enforce the immigration law, unless we are defeated on a technical point in court", emphasizes the government's determination and confidence in enforcing the same laws. Furthermore, the government claims that this decision would be in line with the satisfaction of British Columbia residents, emphasizing anti-Asian sentiments at the time. This also strongly suggests that colonial ideology and control influenced the immigration narrative. The second article in the publication, titled 'Anti-Asian Feeling’5, focuses on public anti-Asian sentiments, as the article reports on a meeting of 3000 people concluding that "Asians are detrimental to the dominion". While this strongly suggests anti-Asian sentiments at the time, the article also calls for the immediate deportation of Hindus and mentions strict anti-Asian laws. These policies are similar to colonial ideologies because they demonstrate broader concepts such as racial hierarchy, exclusivity practices, and overall legal control over the colonized. Lastly, the third article titled ‘Crisis at Vancouver’6, details the various measures taken by the government to prevent the Hindus from fulfilling their ultimatum, including attempts at interception, quarantine, various passenger checks, inspection, etc. Furthermore, the article explicitly claims that permitting Hindu immigration would result in issues down the road, "not only for ourselves but for the empire". While there are economic concerns associated with this, a colonial perspective predominates as the interests emphasized are those of the empire rather than the people. Collectively, these articles demonstrate how colonial ideologies have permeated the media. Instead of reporting events, the publication weaves narratives that allude to the broader concepts of colonialism, such as racial superiority, the threat posed by minorities, and the government's determination to ensure that strict laws are put in place to prevent immigration. Furthermore, the way the locals are portrayed as having anti-Asian sentiments highlights British Columbia's dynamic colonial perspective.

The combination of all three newspaper articles analyzing The Daily Colonist's coverage of the Komagata Maru incident reveals the influence of colonial sentiments on the narratives surrounding the incident. The first article, titled 'Habeas Corpus Writ Refused'7, discusses the deportation of one of the passengers. The article does not engage in any political philosophy; rather, it simply reports on the legal aspects of the passenger's deportation, as authorized by the head of the immigration department. Despite its informative tone, the article provides insight into immigration policies against South Asian immigrants. What is notable is the absence of a socio-political framework, as the article maintains a descriptive tone while delivering factual information.8 The other two articles, 'Strong Request for Exclusion'9 and 'Conflicting Reports about Komagata’10, however, reflect beliefs associated with colonialism, with the first article advocating for the exclusion of East Indians. The second article describes a narrative of suspicion and concern regarding the movement of the steamship, and both articles associate negative connotations with East Indians, such as ‘undesirable’ and ‘mysterious movements’, reflecting the larger concept of racial prejudice and colonial unease. Moreover, by emphasizing on immigration concerns and disregarding any opposing information or viewpoints, the second article exhibits a sense of colonial control. Both articles produce narratives that uphold colonial ideologies, influencing public perception and fostering anti-Asian prejudice. Collectively, these articles suggest how colonial power and the media engage to disseminate information that reinforces colonial beliefs. The narrative interwoven in the second and third articles supports the notion of colonial authorities' control over the implementation of immigration laws and emphasizing their urgent need. Although there are no political overtones or biases in the first article, the other articles shed light on how the media functioned as a tool to support colonial beliefs and propaganda.

Both publications demonstrate differing narratives owing to their respective colonial experiences and interests. The Rhodesia Herald's coverage illustrates the government's viewpoint through the titles of the articles, which include ‘Government's Intention’, ‘Anti-Asian Feeling’ and ‘Crisis at Vancouver’. These titles also highlight the government's emphasis on fostering anti-Asian sentiments. The publication aligns itself with colonial ideology by stressing the need to enforce immigration laws in order to appease both the local British Columbian settlers and the empire. The publication crafts narratives by fusing colonial interests with economic issues, all the while demonstrating the broader concepts of racism, exclusivity, and, ultimately, imposing control over immigration laws. The Daily Colonist's coverage of the incident, on the other hand, is considered as neutral, as it retains a factual tone in the article ‘Habeas Corpus Writ Refused’, which discusses the deportation of one of the passengers. Although the two other articles, 'Strong Request for Exclusion' and 'Conflicting Reports about Komagata' exhibit a stronger feeling of colonial sentiments, the narratives in all articles are still considerably less endorsing overall colonial sentiments. The difference in coverage can be attributed to the individual colonial contexts of the publications. The Rhodesia Herland's coverage focuses on the government and the anti-Asian attitudes of local settlers, all within the context of a colonial narrative. This exemplifies the colonial sentiments prevalent in British Columbia at the time. The daily colonist, on the other hand, does not fail to demonstrate colonial sentiments in shaping narratives around the incident because, even if it was not directly controlled by colonial authorities, it was still influenced by settlers' dominant sentiments and prevailing ideologies of the time.

This paper examines the historical role of media in addressing socio political issues, which is sometimes overlooked in favor of its primary aim of descriptive reporting. Instead, the media frequently takes the shape of an entity that collaborates with authoritative authorities to disseminate propaganda surrounding sensitive situations such as the Komagata Maru incident, in which the publications in question constructed distinct narratives due to their colonial relationships and experiences. The evaluation of these publications enabled an investigation into the media's representation of colonial ideology, showing broader notions of racial prejudice, power dynamics, control, and exclusivity in historical perspectives. This investigation of the Komagata Maru incident offers a better understanding of historical media sources as vehicles for crafting narratives that mirror colonial ideas, thereby influencing history and individuals involved in the events.

Bibliography

“Anti-Asiatic Feeling.” 1914. Rhodesia Herald. June 25, 1914.

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“Conflicting Reports about Komagata .” 1914. The Daily Colonist. May 9, 1914. https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist56y127uvic/page/n9/mode/1up?view=theater&q= komagata+maru%5D.

“Crisis at Vancouver.” 1914. Rhodesia Herald. May 28, 1914.

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Hosain, Zahie. 2023a. Research Proposal.

———. 2023b. “Primary Source Analysis.” November 7, 2023.

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