By Gurpreet Singh
Guru Nanak Jahaz: The Journey of the Komagata Maru (Punjabi) and Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh (Hindi) continue to attract crowds at Cineplex theatres in the Toronto area.
The Komagata Maru, a Japanese vessel that arrived in Vancouver’s harbour in 1914, was renamed after the founder of the Sikh religion by Sikh passengers. The federal government forced it out of of Canadian waters after two months under a racist immigration regulation. In fact, Gurdit Singh, who charted the ship, wanted to challenge racist immigration legislation in Canadian courts because he and the passengers had arrived in this part of the world as British subjects.
Since India was under British occupation and Canada was a British dominion, these people had a case. However, more than 350 passengers were not only expelled, but fired upon by the troops in India upon their return. The incident left many dead in Budge Budge near Kolkata.
This intensified the Indian struggle for freedom back in India and an anti-racism campaign in Vancouver, where a community activist, Mewa Singh, assassinated controversial immigration inspector William Hopkinson.
Famous Punjabi actor Gurpreet Ghuggi plays as Gurdit Singh while Tarsem Singh Jassar takes on the role of Mewa Singh in the film. The screenwriters, Sharan Art (also the director) and Harnav Bir Singh, took liberties in altering a few historical facts, yet the film depicts real events in a very creative and moving way.
Watch the trailer (above) for Kesari Chapter 2.
Kesari Chapter 2 stars Akshay Kumar
The Canadian government has repeatedly acknowledged its mistake. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau made a formal apology in the House of Commons. The video clip of his statement was included in the credit line, while special gratitude was conveyed to MPs Sukh Dhaliwal (Liberal) and Tim Uppal (Conservative).
Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh is no less important. It’s based on events in connection with an ugly massacre that took place on April 13, 1919 in Amritsar India.
According to estimates, more than a thousand people died when British Indian troops opened fire on the peaceful demonstrators who had gathered at a public park to protest repressive and draconian laws of the Crown. Like the Budge Budge incident, the Jallianwala Bagh bloodshed also galvanized the Indian liberation movement.
Sankaran Nair was a pro-British prosecutor and part of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, who had received knighthood for his services to the empire. However, he turned against the Crown and fought for justice for victims of massacre. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar depicts Nair in the movie, which brings into the limelight lesser known facts about the case.
The good news is that both films have English subtitles and some dialogue is also in English. This enables people who don’t speak Punjabi or Hindi to watch them and learn more about Indian history.
Gurpreet Singh is the author of Why Mewa Singh Killed William Hopkinson: Revisiting the Murder of a Canadian Immigration Inspector. He is on Bluesky @gurpreetradical.bsky.social. Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
