In the past, when the national airline Bangladesh Biman was still in service, it carried the bodies free of charge. It was a time when the death of a relative was mourned and the economic repercussions were not at center stage.
Mohammad Jeanie, a 50-year-old man from the Feni district of Bangladesh, is now on life support at the Bronx Lincoln Hospital. Jeanie, who came to the United States with his wife one-and-a-half years ago with a proper immigration visa, unfortunately became severely ill soon after. His family is greatly distressed with the impending costs for the funeral and the transportation back to Bangladesh that his imminent death will bring.
Like many other people who are also facing this crisis after the death of a loved one, a relative of Mohammad Jeanie, who contacted the Thikana office, reported he had approached the Feni Association [a social service organization in Bangladesh that serves Feni expatriates] and was turned away because he was not a member. He explained to Thikana that his relative's sudden illness had not given the family time to research their options.
The issues being faced here are deeply emotional and sensitive prompting the Bangladeshi community in New York to call on large organizations, like the Bangladesh Society and the Consulate of Bangladesh, to come forward and take an initiative to reduce the anxiety of the Bangladeshi community. They suggest the organizations create a joint fund for funeral expenses to add to the welfare funds provided by the Bangladesh Consulate General.
In the past, officials of the Bangladesh Society were active in the community's activities, but with the increasing number of Bangladeshi immigrants, many small regional organizations have been founded, which help solve many problems, such as providing money for health related issues.
The Greater Noakhali Society, Sandwip Association, Beanibazar Social and Cultural Society, Companiganj Welfare Society, Greater Comilla Society, Rupashi Chandpur Foundation, and Feni Association are among these newer organizations. The Bangladeshi community members proposed that these organizations come together to purchase land for a graveyard in Staten Island, in Long Island's Washington Memorial Graveyard or in New Jersey to help reduce funeral costs.
When somebody dies in New York, the body is initially kept at a hospital morgue where a physician determines the cause of death. Then the relatives of the deceased contact a funeral home, where the corpse is washed according to religious rituals and sanitation procedures, to avoid the decomposition of the body or the spread of germs. The funeral home charges for these services and a fee for each day they hold the body. Furthermore, if the body is taken to a mosque and then brought back to the funeral home there are extra charges. All these costs prompt most of the people to take the body directly to the airport or to the graveyard after a prayer ritual at a mosque. Following a clearance from the funeral home, the family then deals with the process of canceling the passports and the issuance of no objection certificate from the consulate to send the corpse to Bangladesh.
Sandwip Association President Iajuddin Ahmed told Thikana that since its founding in 1987, the Association has sent many deceased Bangladeshis back home, paying all expenses, thus helping to alleviate the worry and pain for many families, both members and non-members of the Association. He recounted how last year, a lady became a member by paying $7 just seven days before her death. In return, the Association spent close to $4,500 to send her body to Bangladesh.
"We proudly say that the Sandwip Association is a kind of life insurance for expatriates who hail from Sandwip," said Iajuddin Ahmed.
Borhan Uddin Kafil, the former president of the Beanibazar Society, told this paper that the Society covers all the costs associated with a funeral for any of its members: "Moreover, if the family of the deceased is in financial trouble, we try to raise funds for them. In the past we have donated as much as $20,000 to some families."
On the other hand, Ataur Rahman, general secretary of Jalalabad Association, the largest regional organization, told the Thikana that there was no protocol of spending organization funds when a member of the society dies. When former General Secretary Juned A. Khan died, the society spent $2,900, but the amount has to be adjusted by raising fund from the members.
Mohammed Nasir Uddin, president of the Modina Mosque – the oldest Bangladeshi mosque in New York – informed this paper: "We purchased 100 gravesites in Staten Island and each site could be used three times through a recycling system. Originally we sold each gravesite for $500 each, but the cost is now up to $700. Now availability is about to be exhausted. We are trying to find a place for new graves." He added that the Staten Island Silver Mount Grave Yard was constructed in a Muslim style, and the cost for digging the grave is $900. Those who are buried there have their graves cleaned and decorated with flowers on different important Islamic days, and special prayers are also offered.
Haji Abul Hashem, president of Bangladesh Muslim Center in Brooklyn, said: "We bought place for 200 graves at the Long Island Washington Memorial Graveyard. Now only 40 graves are left, each sold for $1,000. The cost for digging a grave is $1,472. There are additional costs should someone want to have a burial after 3 p.m." He also said that if a Bangladeshi from the area dies, the Baitul Jannah and Darul Jannah Mosques will collaborate together to raise funds for the funeral. He recounted the recent burial of Abdul Aziz from Harishpur, who was a construction worker with a minimal salary, for which the mosques raised a total of $20,000 to pay for funeral costs and transportation, $1,400 was given directly to the family of the deceased, and a fund with $14,500 has been set up for his wife and his children.
