Largely celebrated as a martyr in Canada's Sikh and South Asian communities, Mewa Singh was executed in BC in 1915 for the assassination of Immigration Inspector William C. Hopkinson. This presentation examines Mewa Singh's story and the wider context of the time using primary sources, including documents from the BC Archives. 

About the Speaker:

Paneet Singh is a Punjabi-Sikh playwright and filmmaker whose work is largely inspired and informed by Sikh and South Asian cultures and histories. He is most well known for his two critically-acclaimed stageplays, The Undocumented Trial of William C. Hopkinson and A Vancouver Guldasta, and his documentary films - the nationally televised Press Breaker - and The Ecstatic. Outside of theatre and film Paneet is a co-host of The Nameless Collective South Asian Canadian history podcast, and a volunteer at the Sikh martial art club, the Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji Gatka Akhara. 

Live at Lunch: Negotiating Criminality - The Story of Mewa Singh | Royal BC Museum and Archives