Barring one, chief guests across the 17 editions of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) held between 2003 and 2023 have all been prominent persons of Indian origin (PIOs), broadly those whose ancestors settled in distant lands during the colonial indentured system practiced by erstwhile European empires. There has also been a remarkable instance of a father-son duo being the chief guest at different editions of the PBD—Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius (he was also the country’s President), was given the honor in the very first PBD in New Delhi in 2003 while his son Pravind Jugnauth, the current Prime Minister of Mauritius, led the diaspora as chief guest in the 2019 PBD at Varanasi. The other distinguished Mauritians who have been invited as chief guests were Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam (New Delhi, 2008) and President Rajkeswur ‘Kailash’ Purryag (Kochi, 2013). Mauritius is often referred to as Chhota Bharat in the Indian Ocean region and nearly 70 percent of the country’s population is made up of PIOs, according to the website of the Indian High Commission in Port Louis.

Apart from the four top Mauritians, three eminent figures from Guyana have been chief guests at the PBD. They include President Bharrat Jagdeo (New Delhi, 2004), President Donald Rabinderanauth Ramotar (Gandhinagar, 2015), President Mohamed Irfaan Ali (Indore, 2023). Suriname has also sent three chief guests to the PBD, Vice President Jules Ajodhia in 2005 at Mumbai, Vice President Ram Sardjoe in 2009 at Chennai and President Chandrikapersad Santokhi in 2021 when the PBD was held virtually at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other chief guests have been political activist Ahmed Kathrada from South Africa at the 2006 PBD in Hyderabad, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar at the 2007 PBD in New Delhi, Lord Khaleed Hamid, Chairman of the Alpha Hospital Group at PBD 2010 in New Delhi, Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor-General of New Zealand at PBD 2011 in New Delhi, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at PBD 2012 in Jaipur, Malaysia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment G Palanivel at PBD 2014 in New Delhi, and Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa at PBD 2017 at Bengaluru.

As is evident, barring Lord Hamid, the rest of the chief guests are PIOs, mainly from the plantation diaspora nations. Even Sir Anand Satyanand of New Zealand has Indo-Fijian heritage, his grandparents arrived in Fiji from India in 1911. Two leaders who missed out on being chief guests were Prime Minister Basdeo Panday of Trinidad and Tobago whose obituary we are carrying in this issue (he passed away on January 1, 2024) and Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry of Fiji. By the time the PBD started in 2003, Mr Panday had ceased to be Prime Minister of his country, a position he held between 1995 and 2001. Likewise, Mr Chaudhry was PM of Fiji between May 1999 and May 2000.

On our cover this time we have eight prominent present day PIO leaders from across seven nations. They include British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Portuguese PM António Costa, Mauritian President Prithvirajsing Roopun, Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth, Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Let’s celebrate the rise and advent of the top PIO politicians from across the seas.

Sayantan Chakravarty
sayantanc@gmail.com