MILITANT HINDUS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 192, 18 September 1914, Page 6

MILITANT HINDUS.

SENSATIONAL FINALE. From Our Special Correspondent. ' VANCOUVER, August 5. Vancouver will long, entertain .1 lively recollection of tlie stay of the Komagata Maru and her Hindu passengers in the stream in the British Columbia 11 port. Once the decision of the Court of Appeals against their .'admittance was made known to them, the swarthy sons of India "declared war" to the knife against their fellow British subjects, who had turned the key of the gates of Western Canada in their faces. Having exhausted all constitutional methods, the Hindus resorted to craft, and, this also proving in vain, they unreservedly refused to go. When a small regiment of police and "specials" endeavoured by force to rid the harbour of them, India's "undesirable immigrants" put up a historic light and repulsed the enemy. Indeed, had not wiser counsels eventually prevailed, the besieged'—fortified in their fanatical belief that being British subjects they were entitled by e,very moral j and legal right to make their homes in 1 Canada —would have doubtless actually attempted to invade the city en masse. As it was, they left a trail of broken heads behind them, aud more than passing significance might be attached to the observation of one official. That officer pertinently remarked: "Long may they remain British subjects, for assuredly in the present of our defences if not)one, but a whole fleet of Hindus, sought admission to our port as a hostile foreign force, nothing could stop them frcim landing!" THE MIDNIGHT ATTACK. To revert to the Hindus' display of the mailed list: Under the cover of night a large body of Vancouver police and a contingent of special immigration numbering altogether nearly 200 irienj, descended early -jn Sunday morning, July 29, in the tug Sea Lion upon the Komagata Maru and, .after grappling her and playing a hose i on tlie infuriated Hindu passengers,, were beaten back by showers of coal and- other missiles. Many, of the- attacked were injured, some seriously,, and the tug beeame a hospital. A day or two previous'-to -this sally the Canadian Government decided, as an act of mercy, to provision the Koimigata Marti for Jier 'Voyage ba'ek to the Orient at a coat of £SOO. Loaded with''pro-' 'Vision's*, the tug and the police—all of whom carried firearms—slowly steamed out to. the Japanese steamer, which lay : a quarter of a mile off the shore. Upon arriving withiii hailing distance of the vessel, it was seen that every inch of, space al()ng the-rail and deck and on the bridge was occupied by a Hindu, armed with a club or other weapou.' Some had revolvers.

As the Sea Lion drew level and gradually closed up alongside, her searchlight 'throwing every swarthy face" into strong relief, demonstration was made by the Hindus, who beat off the first clutch of the grappling iron. Finally, however, the grappling, hook was successfully placed, whereupon a Hindu took an axe and-hacked at the rope. He had almost severed the sti'auds when the tug's big hosepipe was turned on the picturesqueiy-attired Hindus. Only for amoment, however, did the sons of India waive. Rallying with what must be admitted showed considerable pluck, a number of them faced the powerful stream of water~aiid' dashed in a shower ••of missile's" upon the attacking party. This was followed by a tremendous storm of lump coal, which in a couple of minutes put the crowded mass of men upon the decks of the tug completely at the mercy of the Hindus above them.: For a few minutes the air seemed black Avith coal, pieces,of wool, fire bricks, and' pieces of iron, from what it was thought to be the age of the engine room. There Avas hardly a man upon the tug who did not receive an injury t of a more or less serious nature.

Pandemonium reigned ' supreme on board the much-vanquished Sea Lion, but eventually, < the grappling " iroii having been unloosened by some venturesome eonstable, the tug, with her injured and angry crowd, slowly • and sullenly moved away, from the big vessels si'de while a yell of derision, shouting, and laughter from the triumphant Hindus followed in her wake. A STATE OF WAR. Sunday afternoon passed fairly .peacefully, although several parties- of shore Hindus were roughly handled by whites. Monday - morning saw the ; Hindus execute, a war- dance on the (leek of the the time of aweinspiring tom-tom beating, s An ultimatum was issued to the.Hindus, and a large force-of the military had lined up on the water-front ready for emergencies. The whole eity_ seethed with and urgent dispatches were constantly; being, exchanged with Ottawa, the Canadian capital. The Hindus also indulged in warlike preparations which included, the erection of barricades and the carrying up of coal from the hold. The would-be immigrants still refused to surrender and to reinstate the Japanese crew on board the ,Komagata jSiaru. Vancouver now wore a martiaP'appearaiveej and it was not until late i,n the day, when the six-inch guns of the Canadian cruiser Rainbow were turned on the enemy's stronghold and 1000 militiamen threatened to board the liner and deport them by force of arms, that the Hindus agreed to come to terms. The subsequent peaceful provisioning of the ship and her departure for the Orient under armed escort closed a sensational epoch in the history of British Columbia, but the last has not yet been heard of the Hindu question.