Jagernath Lachmon

Jagernath Lachmon ( born September 21, 1916 in Nickerie, Suriname, † 19 October 2001 in The Hague, Netherlands ) was a Surinamese politician of Hindustani descent. His parents came as indentured laborers from Uttar Pradesh to Suriname. His father was cooking on the plantation in the district of Nickerie Waterloo and his mother worked in the sugar cane fields. After expiry of the contract period, they started a small farm with dairy cows in the area of Nieuw Nickerie -.

Life and career

At the age of 13 years Lachmon pulled for further education to Paramaribo and made the high-school diploma. Following the advice of the school, he decided to become a lawyer. Since at this time no law school in Suriname was possible, you could learn the trade only on an internship. After a long search he found in the office of Julius Caesar de Miranda, a lawyer and politician of Creole origin, who had studied in the Netherlands, an apprenticeship. The fact that a Creole was ready to form a Hindustan, made ​​a great impression on the young Lachmon and laid the foundation for his quest for balance, especially between the two main ethnic population groups.

He became the first lawyer Hindustani descent in Suriname and in 1940 opened his own office in Paramaribo. His political career began in various smaller groups, which he with the establishment of Vooruitstrevende Hervormings Partij (VHP ) ( Progressive Renewal Party) bundled into the largest Hindustani party early in 1949. He remained until his death, whose chairman. In the elections of 1949 he moved for the first time as a deputy for the VHP in De Staten van Suriname ( De Nationale Assemblee from 1987 ) - Parliament - a. From 1964 to 1973 he was its chairman.

In contrast to his political opponents Johan Adolf Pengel and his successor Henck Arron AE of the National Party of Suriname (NPS ), he was more cautious with its aspirations for independence from the Netherlands. The plans and schedules of Arron and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Joop den Uyl to the sovereignty of Suriname him went too fast and were too immature. In his view, especially the question of the choice of nationality by Surinamese had been sufficiently clarified and generally he feared the oppression of Hindu mangosteens by the Creoles. The contrasts between the predominantly Creole nationalists with the demand independence ultimo 1975 - and the attitude of the VHP with Lachmon as the greatest voice of the Hindu mangosteens: Prepare independence better, led to great tensions that were visible by arson in the capital. Shortly before the appointed date, it did bring me to reconciliation between Arron and Lachmon, which experienced a dramatic climax when these political opponents to each other on November 19, 1975, ie 6 days before the proclaimed independence, embraced in Parliament.

After the seizure of power by the military in February 1980 it came to the end of parliamentary democracy in Suriname. This situation continued until 1987, when for the first time after the military coup again free and secret elections could be held. These elections were made ​​possible after negotiations with the military rulers, in which also Lachmon had played a decisive role. The VHP has been the ruling party and Lachmon again Chairman of the Parliament ( De Nationale Assemblee ). On August 1, 1996, another fire taught in Paramaribo havoc. On this day was a historic complex of buildings, including the data used as a Parliament since the beginning of the 20th century building on the Gravenstraat (now Henck Arronstraat ) in flames. Here also important documents from the Office of the Speaker of Parliament Lachmon were lost.

Overall, he was elected five times to the Speaker of Parliament and recorded in 1999 as the longest-serving elected officials in the world in the Guinness Book of Records.

Jagernath Lachmon died in a hotel room in The Hague, during an official visit to the Dutch government as chairman of a parliamentary delegation of Suriname. His body was cremated on 25 October 2001 in Paramaribo.

In his honor, a statue was made ​​by the Surinamese artists Erwin de Vries, which found its place on the Independence Square of Paramaribo.