Akshay to co-produce a movie on historical Komagata Maru tragedy

Deepa Mehta approached Akshay Kumar to be part of a film that will be based on the Komagata Maru incidence. Akshay has accepted the offer and he even offered to co-produce the film. Akshay will play the role of a Sikh advocate who fought a legal battle for the sufferers of the incidence. In the month of August 2008, Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper apologized for the incident to Indians.

What happened in the Komagata Maru incidence? In 1914 a Japanese ship Komagata Maru, traveled from China to Japan to Vancouver and then to Canada and the ship was carrying, 376 passengers from Punjab, India. Punjabis boarded the ship from Calcutta to reach Canada .The 20th century exclusion laws in Canada and the United States, were designed in a way to disallow Asians to come into the country and when the ship reached Canada it was disallowed to dock on Canada.

The Candaian shore committee raised $22,000 as an installment to dock the ship and this amount was very high for the passengers to pay. A protest was carried out by the passengers who were not provided with food and when the ship reached Canada, the passengers tried to prepare food and offer langar to the passengers that were not allowed.

The Japanese captain was relieved by the passengers and the Canadian government ordered the harbor tug Sea Lion to push the ship out to Sea. Passengers mounted an attack and after many controversies, the Canadian government allowed 24 passengers into Canada. Many died of hunger on ship and few returned back home and joined the ghadar party to fight the British rule that was using unlawful methods to torture Indians.