Inaugural Session                 4:30 PM- 5:45 PM

4:30 PM- 4:35 PM (5 Minutes)	Introduction and Moderator	Prof. Ajay Dubey, School of International Studies, JNU & President, ODI, New Delhi
4:35 PM- 4:45 PM (10 Minutes)	Inaugural Address	Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)New Delhi
4:45 PM- 4:50 PM (10 Minutes)	Theme Introduction	Dr. Sushmita Rajwar ODI Webinar Series Coordinator
4:50 PM-5:00 PM (10 Minutes)	Distinguished Guest	Mr. Ashook K Ramsaran, President, Indian Diaspora Council, International (IDC) New York, USA
5:00 PM- 5:10 PM (10Minutes)	Distinguished Guest	Mr. Ravi Dev Former member of Parliament, & Founder, Rise Organise and Rebuild (ROAR), Party, Guyana.
5:10 PM- 5:20 PM (10 Minutes)	Special Guest	Shri Shyam Parande, Secretary-General, Antar Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad (ARSP), New Delhi.
5:20 PM- 5:30 PM (10 Minutes)	Guest of Honour	HE Amb. Aashna Kanhai, Ambassador of Suriname to India
5:30 PM-5:40PM (10 Minutes)	Chief Guest	Amb. D M Mulay, Former Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs & Currently Member, Human Rights Commission  of India.
5:40 PM- 5:45 PM (5 Minutes)	Vote of Thanks	Ms. Sarita Nandmehar Convener & Doctoral Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

Specialist Panel 5:45 PM- 7:15 PM

5:45 PM-5:50 PM (5 Minutes)	Moderator	Prof. Kavita Sharma Immediate Past President, South Asian University, & Chairperson, ODI International
5:50 PM-6:02 PM (12 Minutes)	Speaker 1	Prof. Maurits S Hassankhan, Former Member of Parliament & Professor, Anton de Kom, University of Suriname
6:02 PM- 6:14 PM (12 Minutes)	Speaker 2	Prof. Lomarsh Roopnarine Professor, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, Jackson State University, USA
6:14 PM- 6:26 PM (12Minutes)	Speaker 3	Prof. Brinsley Samaroo Former Professor University of West Indies, &  former Senior Minister & Member of Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.
6:26 PM- 6:35 PM (9 Minutes)	Discussant	Prof Ajay Dubey Chair, School of International Studies, JNU,
6:35 PM- 7:10 PM (35 Minutes)	Q & A Session
7:10 PM- 7:15 PM (5 Minutes)	Vote of Thanks	Mr. BK Pandey, Secretary-General, ODI India, PhD Scholar, CAS, JNU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Election of President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi in Suriname: Perspectives from the Region, India and Indian Diaspora

 

 African slaves were replaced by indentured workers from across the world, like other parts of the world, once slavery was abolished. The bulk of the indentured workers who replaced African slaves were from India. In many countries, they formed majority like in Guyana, Trinidad or a substantial proportion of the settler population in Suriname. As all of them were from outside, belonged to different ethnicity, race and diasporic origin,  the colonial master used to divide and rule policies to use one against the other. There was a contestation between African and Indian diaspora in the region from colonial times,  starting with economic space,  employment to later on for political control. African diaspora being present there for a long time and easily Christianised got access to early education and produced many intellectual leaders among Africans from the region like,  Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, William Sylvester. They not only led their community locally, mobilised them, organised them but also linked them to black empowerment movements in North America and Europe through Pan African Congress of William Sylvester starting from 1900 or Marcus Garvey movement in the USA during the interwar period and that of Du Bois after second world war.

On the other hand, Indian diaspora which arrived late in the region refused to be assimilated in colonial religion, and due to its firm adherence to its culture, it got lesser opportunity in education where Christian religion was an important criteria. Some Indians changed just their name to have access to it. But what was in clear contrast to the African diaspora, for Indians, the later were not linked to any important power and having an influence on the region. Additionally, their own mother country even after its independence had a policy of active dissociation with its diaspora under Nehru period. The Indian diaspora, being situated so far of, could not connect with India in this power struggle. It felt abandoned by the mother country. It had no diasporic network like  Black empowerment movement in Trans-Atlantic region at that time or like what it has as Indian Diaspora under GOPIO now or a U-turn of India on its diaspora policy under globalisation.

It is in this contestation, mobilisation, organisation, and regional and international influences that Indian diaspora and African diaspora competed for power in different countries. These factors primarily shaped the post-independent political history of Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname. The election of Chan Santokhi in Suriname last month and the election of Md Irfaan Ali in Guyana under regional and American influence demonstrate the changing dynamics of the countries, region and of India and its diasporic network. To analyse and discuss this complex dynamics, Organisation for Diaspora Initiatives (ODI India),  and the Diaspora and International Migration Programme (DIMP), of CAS-School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi are jointly organising an International Web-Symposium on Election of President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi in Suriname: Perspectives from the Region, India and Indian Diaspora on August 08, 2020.

Besides other things the discussion will high light the different dimensions and implications of the election of President Santokhi including

 

1.     The local dynamics of Suriname election.

2.     The historical legacies and Regional and International dynamics including India

3.     Changing Status, role and identity of Indian diaspora in the region due to such electoral outcome.