Indo-Surinamese

History

During the British Raj, many Indians were sent to other British colonies for work. After the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colony of Suriname, the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers. Indians began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured labourers, Mostly from the Northern part consisting of modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal and in smaller numbers Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. However, among the immigrants there were also labourers from other parts of South Asia, such as present-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The first ship transporting Indian indentured labourers, the Lalla Rookh, arrived in Paramaribo. Newly freed slaves in Suriname who witnessed Indian workers disembarking at the harbour, reportedly stated, "Jobo tanbasi", meaning "The white man is still the boss", suggesting that they viewed the development as a continuation of the slave trade. Initially, the transport and living conditions of Indian labourers in Suriname was worse than it had been prior to the abolition of the Dutch slave trade. The British Viceroy of India described it as "a new system of slavery". In 1870s, conditions were improved greatly following the passage of new legislation to protect the Indian workers. The Government of the United Kingdom and the colonial British Government in India feared comparisons to slavery would hurt their reputation, and enacted several legislations to make transportation of Indian workers safer and improve working conditions in plantations. The Dutch government, which had signed the agreement to recruit workers with the British after long and difficult negotiations, also feared jeopardizing the arrangement and meticulously followed the regulations imposed by the British. The Dutch were also concerned that they would be accused of reviving the slave trade.

In order to reduce the mortality rate among workers being transported from India, the colonial British government required the presence of at least one doctor on every ship. As regulations required the doctor to be of European-origin, the regulations also required that one Indian indentured labourer be appointed as a translator and that he would be paid for his services at the end of the journey. Other regulations mandated that every ship have distilling apparatus with a capacity to produce at least 500 litres of drinking water from seawater daily, and also required ships to have a sickbay, male and female nursing staff, adequate food and medicine, and artificial ventilation in the passengers' quarters. Another regulation prohibited any ship transporting Indian indentured labourers from setting sail between the end of March and the beginning of August. Any shipping company that violated the regulations would be prohibited from transporting contact workers in the future. While the mortality rate among slaves working on plantations between 1680 and 1807 averaged 50.9 per thousand people, following the passage of the regulations post-1873, it dropped to 7.1 per thousand among Indian workers.

Indo-Surinamese made up 37.6% of the population in the 1972 Census. Following the independence of Suriname on 25 November 1975, a significant portion of the Indo-Surinamese population migrated to the Netherlands, thereby retaining their Dutch passport.

Religion

The majority religion among the Indo-Surinamese is Hinduism, practiced by 78% of the people, followed by Islam (13%), Christianity (7%), and Jainism. Among the Hindus about 63% follow orthodox, traditional Hinduism that they call Sanātanī to differentiate themselves from the 15% who belong to the reform movement Arya Samaj, started by Dayananda Saraswati. Among the Indo-Surinamese Muslims, 75% follow Sunni Islam while 25% identify as Ahmadiyya, of either the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community community.

Notable Indo-Surinamese people

• Ashwin Adhin, politician, former Vice President of Suriname
• Errol Alibux, politician, former prime minister of Suriname, suspect in the December murders trial
• Robert Ameerali, politician
• Kiran Badloe, windsurfer
• Soerdj Badrising, politician
• Kiran Bechan, football player
• Paul Bhagwandas Military officer, Football Coach, Suspect of December Murder 1982
• Diego Biseswar, football player
• Cándani, poet, writer, and painter
• Danilho Doekhi, football player
• George Hindori, politician
• Tanja Jadnanansing, Dutch Labour Party politician
• Ricardo Kishna, football player
• Ismene Krishnadath, writer
• Darryl Lachman, football player
• Jagernath Lachmon, politician, ex-Speaker of the National Assembly of Suriname
• Immanuel Pherai, football player
• Vinoodh Matadin, fashion photographer
• Fred Ramdat Misier, politician
• Raj Mohan, singer
• Furdjel Narsingh, football player
• Luciano Narsingh, Dutch footballer
• Joël Piroe, football player
• Prem Radhakishun, lawyer, columnist, actor and radio and television producer
• Pretaap Radhakishun, former Prime Minister of Suriname
• Anil Ramdas, columnist, correspondent, essayist, journalist, and TV and radio host
• Chan Santokhi, President of Suriname, ex-chief of police, Progressive Reform Party politician
• India Sardjoe, Dutch breakdancer
• Ram Sardjoe, politician, ex-Speaker of the National Assembly of Suriname
• Ramsewak Shankar, politician
• Alice Bhagwandai Singh, Surinamese-Guyanese activist
• Aron Winter, football player