South Asians

SOUTH ASIANS began immigrating to BC from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 1903, when small numbers of single men arrived to find work in SAWMILLS, road and rail construction, farm labouring and land clearing. By 1908 there were 5,179 S Asians in Canada, almost all in BC. Ironically the exclusionary HEAD TAX placed on CHINESE immigrants created employment opportunities for these newcomers. Almost all the S Asians came from the Punjab area of northern India and almost all of these were SIKHS. As their number grew, the white community became alarmed and demanded that restrictions already imposed on Chinese and JAPANESE immigrants apply also to S Asians. In 1907 they were deprived of the vote in provincial and municipal jurisdictions, which led to their exclusion from the federal vote, from citizenship and from many jobs and elected offices. At the same time informal restrictions barred access to economic and professional opportunities. Early in 1908 the federal government imposed a regulation requiring immigrants to Canada to arrive on a continuous voyage from their home port. As the government knew, there was no direct shipping connection between India and Canada, so the new requirement had the effect of banning S Asian immigration. The new policy was challenged, most notably during the KOMAGATA MARU incident in 1914, but remained in place until 1947. Until 1919 the ban extended to wives and children of men already in BC; as a result the size of the community shrank to about 2,300 by 1911 and 951 in 1921. (Of the small number of women who managed to get into Canada, one was Uday Ram, who in 1911 gave birth to the first S Asian born in Canada.) Despite economic, political and social discrimination, S Asians managed to make a place for themselves in BC. The FOREST INDUSTRY in particular became an economic mainstay. Pressure to restore the vote increased during the 1930s but the provincial government stalled until 1947 when it granted the franchise. This meant that the federal franchise was automatically restored, and later that year the municipalities followed suit. Immigration policy also changed. The federal government established a quota system in 1951, set initially at 300 S Asian immigrants annually. Further loosening of restrictions followed until S Asians received the same treatment as any other group. One result was that the BC community diversified to include not just Sikhs from the Punjab but many Hindus and Muslims (see ISLAM), as well as people from a variety of destinations: Ismailis from Uganda, Goans from E Africa, Indians from Fiji and the Caribbean, Malayalees from Kerala and Sinhalese, Tamils from Sri Lanka, and others. The term "S Asian" now resembles the term "European" in its inclusion of many diverse cultural backgrounds and geographic locations.

Another change in immigration patterns was a shift in destination away from BC, so that by 1971 only 28% of S Asians in Canada lived here. In 2001 about 300,000 people of S Asian background lived in BC, the majority in VANCOUVER, where the Punjabi Market on Main St is one of the largest in N America, and in SURREY. While discrimination has not ended, S Asians are prominent in all walks of life and play leading roles in the economic, social and political life of the province. Their influence became strikingly evident in Feb 2000 when Ujjal DOSANJH, a Vancouver lawyer and MLA, became PREMIER.
Reading: Norman Buchignani, Doreen M. Indra with Ram Srivastiva, Continuous Journey: A Social History of South Asians in Canada, 1985.