Calcutta to Vancouver. His aim was to help his compatriots whose previous journeys to Canada had been blocked. Though Gurdit Singh was apparently aware of regulations when he chartered the ship Komagata Maru in January 1914, he continued with his enterprise in order to challenge the continuous journey regulation, in the hope of opening the door for immigration from India to Canada. At the same time, in January 1914, he publicly espoused the Ghadarite cause while in Hong Kong. The Ghadar Movement was an organization founded by Punjab residents of the United States and Canada in June 1913 with the aim of gaining India independence from British rule. It was also known as the Khalsa Association of the Pacific Coast. Passengers The passengers consisted of 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus, all British subjects. One of the Sikh passengers, Jagat Singh Thind, was the youngest brother of Bhagat Singh Thind, an Indian-American Sikh writer and lecturer on "spiritual science" who was involved in an important legal battle over the rights of Indians to obtain U.S. citizenship (United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind). The Canadian Government was aware that amongst the passengers were a number of Indian nationalists intent on creating disorder in support of efforts to overthrow British rule in India. (see Ghadar conspiracy, Annie Larsen arms plot, and Christmas Day Plot.) In addition to the security risks, there was a desire to prevent Indian nationals from immigrating to Canada. Voyage Departure from Hong Kong Hong Kong became the point of departure. The ship was scheduled to leave in March, but Singh was arrested for selling tickets for an illegal voyage. After several months he was released on bail and given permission by Francis Henry May, the Governor of Hong Kong, to set sail. The ship departed on April 4 with 165 passengers. More passengers joined at Shanghai on April 8, and the ship arrived at Yokohama on April 14. It left Yokohama on May 3 with its complement of 376 passengers and sailed into Burrard Inlet, near Vancouver, on May 23. The Indian nationalist revolutionaries Barkatullah and Bhagwan Singh Gyanee met with the ship en route. Bhagwan Singh Gyanee was head priest of the in Vancouver and had been one of three delegates sent to London and India to represent the case of Indians in Canada. Ghadarite literature was disseminated on board and political meetings took place on