As Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the Netherlands for high-level talks with Dutch leaders and prepared to address the Indian community in The Hague on Saturday morning, all eyes are on one of Europe’s most extraordinary, and least talked about, success stories of Indian origin: the Surinamese-Hindustani Diaspora.
These are the “twice-migrants” who have kept India alive in their hearts for 153 years, across two continents, two languages and two homelands.
It began on a single ship. On June 5, 1873, the Lalla Rookh docked in Paramaribo, Suriname, carrying indentured labourers from the Bhojpuri heartlands of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal.
What the British Viceroy of India once called “a new system of slavery” became, against all odds, one of the most resilient chapters in the Indian diaspora’s history.
Today, in the bustling streets of The Hague – home to the largest concentration of this community in the Netherlands, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren still speak Sarnami, a vibrant creole born on Suriname’s plantations.
It blends Bhojpuri and Awadhi with Dutch influences, a living linguistic bridge to the villages their ancestors left behind. It is spoken not just at home but in markets, temples and community halls across the city.
After Suriname’s independence in 1975, tens of thousands made the second journey, this time to the Netherlands. They arrived speaking Dutch and Sarnami, carrying Indian rituals and Caribbean memories in the same suitcase.
Today, the approximately 200,000 Surinamese-Hindustanis form the largest and oldest Indian-origin community in continental Europe, distinct yet deeply connected to the roughly 90,000 newer direct migrants from India.
Their cultural flame burns brighter than ever. The centuries-old Baithak Gana tradition – folk and devotional music from the Bhojpuri belt – has evolved into the unique Sarnami-Bhojpuri Geet style here in the Netherlands.
Fifth-generation artist Raj Mohan, born in 1964, has become its modern maestro.
The Bihari-Indian-Surinamese-Dutch singer has even collaborated with Anup Jalota on a bhajan album, creating a direct musical highway between The Hague and Mumbai.
In literature too, the community is making waves. Writer Karin Amatmoekrim, who grew up in the Tata Steel town of IJmuiden, won the prestigious 2024 Dutch Biography Prize for her book on intellectual giant Anil Ramdas – proof that Surinamese-Hindustani voices are now shaping mainstream Dutch culture.
India has formally honoured this unbreakable bond. Four members of the community have received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest recognition for overseas Indians:
Shri Ram Lakhina (2009) – for decades of work preserving Indian traditions and strengthening ties with the motherland.Shri Saleh Wahid (2011) – for community service and promoting India’s interests in the Netherlands.Satnarainsing Rabin Baldew Singh (2014) – former Deputy Mayor of The Hague, who elevated Indo-Dutch relations at the political level.Mr Eugene Rhuggenaath (2021) – former Prime Minister of Curaao, of Surinamese-Hindustani heritage, who rose to the highest levels of public office in the Dutch Kingdom.
As PM Modi gets ready to speak to this vibrant gathering – fresh off a colourful welcome featuring Kathak, Garba and even Bhojpuri songs from the diaspora – the message is clear: distance and time could not erase the Indian soul.
From the decks of the Lalla Rookh in 1873 to the stage in The Hague in 2026, the Surinamese-Hindustani story is living proof that pravasi isn’t just about leaving home. It’s about never letting go.
– Ends
Published On:
May 16, 2026 14:21 IST