Sunday, January 16, 2:30 to 4:30pm
Please join member of parliament Ujjal Dosanjh and author Tariq Malik for the launch of Chanting Denied Shores, a historical novel spanning seven years (1914 – 1921) in the lives of four protagonists of the Komagata Maru debacle. Upon the ship’s arrival in the Burrard Inlet of Vancouver’s racially charged harbour, it is intercepted by hostile immigration authorities. Yet the passengers are determined to forge a foothold in the Dominion of Canada.
The novel follows four main characters: fugitive Punjabi schoolteacher Bashir Ali Lopoke, who is escaping his past as a revolutionary firebrand; the conflicted Canadian Immigration Inspector William Hopkinson, who is of Anglo-Indian descent; Mewa Singh, a disgruntled Vancouver farmhand who is witnessing his people’s daily humiliation; and Jean Fryer, Hopkinson’s seven-year daughter, whose recollections shed fresh light on the unfolding traumatic events.
Through these fractured personal narratives we witness the emerging challenge on the American shores of the Indian revolutionary movement and the humiliation of the passengers on board the Komagata Maru.
Please join us for this author event and book signing.
Space is limited. To assure a seat, please RSVP to kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.