The Afghan Muslims of Guyana and Suriname

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2002

The Afghan Muslims of Guyana and Suriname

RAYMOND CHICKRIE Introduction

Guyana and Suriname are located on the northeast coast of South America and are two of the three non-Hispanic enclaves that make up the Guianas. Suriname is also one of the most ethnically and culturally mixed countries in the world. In Paramaribo, the capital of this Dutch speaking nation of about 450,000 people, architecture graphically re􏰻 ects this synthesis of peoples. A beautiful Mughal style mosque shares the same street with an imposing nineteenth-century wooden synagogue; several Hindu temples and the Roman Catholic cathedral can be found in the capital as well. Suriname and Guyana are colourful mixtures of African and Asian in􏰻 uences.

Guyana and Suriname’s rich cultural mosaic is the legacy of the Dutch and British plantation economy, which after the abolition of slavery brought many indentured workers from British India, Indonesia, and China (see Figure 1). They joined the descendants of African slaves, a large Jewish community, a European and Middle Eastern business and professional e ́lite and the remnants of the indigenous Arawak and Carib peoples. Dutch, Hindustani, Hakka, Mandarin, and Javanese are also spoken in Suriname. Islam, Hinduism and Christianity are part of the cultural mosaic. In Guyana English is the medium of exchange. Hindi and Urdu are used only for religious purposes by Hindus and Muslims (see Figure 2). In both countries the majority of the Asian immigrants settled in the fertile farming area near the coast, while the African-de- scended Creoles tended to move into the cities. Some Surinamese who were former slaves from West Africa escaped the Dutch sugar plantations into the jungle. These runaway slaves are called boschnegers.