The Komagata Through a Media Lens: Racial, Economic, and Political Threat in Newspaper Coverage of the 1914 Komagata Maru Affair

Abstract

As part of its 'white Canada' policy, Canadian officials denied entry to 376 Indian immigrants who arrived aboard the Komagata Maru in 1914. Although the Komagata Maru affair was among the first Canadian immigration controversies to generate international media coverage, little is known about the nature of this coverage. In this paper, we examine the extent to which media coverage of the event reflected a range of racial (Orientalism; Canada's white destiny), political (the British Empire and Indian nationalism), and economic threat (economic depression, wage competition) ideologies. Our analysis of 193 newspaper articles published between May 5th and July 30th, 1914 finds that most articles emphasize the political implications, followed by race, and then by economic competition. By portraying the passengers not only as radicals but also as threats to the very fabric of the British Empire, the media delegitimized the migrants' claims to move freely within it.