Graveyard Land Issue: Can People Have a Claim Over Burial Space For Life?

Khandaker Nusrat Jahan

Living in a country where life is miserably uncertain and the shadow of death lurks around like an inevitable daily chore, the question people often seem to wonder about is, “If I die, where shall I lie?” Sitting at home in a densely populated and rapidly urbanized country where the land is limited but the graves are limitless, the author tries to deeply analyze the haunted question everyone hesitates to ask: “Can a person or a family have a graveyard of their own forever in Bangladesh?”

The Crisis People Often Sleep On

At present, Dhaka has only 8 graveyards reserved for 10+ million people living under the South City Corporation and the North City Corporation, and frankly, they are already packed and overflowing now. Fact says that during the COVID-19 outbreak, there were about 40-50 dead bodies buried in Rayerbazar Graveyard on a daily basis, and the number of dead bodies kept piling up horribly.

Nowadays, a family needs to spend 2- 3 lakhs in order to reserve burial space for the dead person. The process they go through to get a lease is often informal and illegal. A lot of dead bodies are buried in rural areas and in places where they were not supposed to be buried in the first place. Some of the dead bodies are thrown away as bones illegally in the middle of the night, and are even sold in the marketplace. TBS report

What the Land Law Says and Doesn’t Say About Graveyards

Most Islamic graveyards are donated through waqfs and for charitable purposes only. Those are monitored under the waqf administrations. Section 2 of the Waqf Ordinance, 1962 states that waqf properties are permanently held only for religious and charitable purposes and cannot be sold, gifted, or owned by any individual. But the law is silent about how much land an individual can use and for how long they can hold on to that land.The Waqfs Ordinance, 1962

Municipal authorities like DSCC and DNCC normally manage all the affairs of the public graveyard. Section 93 of the Dhaka City Corporation Ordinance 1983 allows people to bury dead bodies, but they don’t allow personal reservation. This often leads to illegal activities and corruption.

If the cemetery land falls under government-owned property, which is also known as khas property, they are regulated under the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950. According to this act, the government may allow individual burials, but they do not permit ownership of that burial space. Which means the government owns the grave technically. The State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950

Trespassing and misusing of the burial lands are punishable offences mentioned under section 297 of The Penal Code, 1860. But this section doesn’t mention anything about solving the space issue. It is rather silent about the horrible idea of mass burials, aka “gonokobor” and only talks about the consequences of the crime, but does not suggest any ways to solve the crime.

The Penal Code,1860

The Harsh Reality

While the law doesn’t propose much about the burial issue, illegal and corrupt practices are on the loose. In a report made by The Daily Star, it came into the limelight that dead persons’ families usually spend 1.5-2 lakhs, and the highest 10 lakhs to rent land for burials. Which is not even permanent rather limited by time schedules. And the process they go through in order to rent the grave is often an oral agreement, and there are no legal grounds for that in real life. leasing a grave?

On the other hand, Dhaka North City Corporation recently introduced a model which is called “grave preservation” which will allow individuals to hold on to burial spaces for 15-20 years on a renewal basis. Yet, it doesn’t solve the problem of owning gravel and of their own; rather, it’s a temporary model.

On a serious note, Rayerbazar is well known for mass burials, and the rows of dead bodies are increasing day by day, but the space is not expanded according to the needs. As a result, corruption is rising, and people are exploiting aggrieved families by blackmailing them emotionally just for their monetary benefits. There are often no records left of the dead bodies, no explanations, and all of a sudden, the poor people have nowhere to rest in peace. Rayerbazar graveyard and other reports.

New Proposal: “The Right To Rest in Peace”

A new model can be proposed in order to solve this burning issue without compromising any constitutional, religious, and land-related values. In this model, every burial portion can be renewed after 15-20 years (similar to the DNCC model) with the consent of the family. But the temporary ownership record should be kept digitally, and it should be announced publicly so that no one can exploit it.

Every grave shall have a unique identity mark printed, for example, a QR-CODE, which, if scanned directly, will take to the personal database of the dead person, like his name, identity, etc. This way, illegal buy-sell and duplication shall be prevented.

Perpetual, hereditary, and permanent private ownership of public graveyards should be legally prohibited at all costs. Those places are reserved for the public good, not for privatization.

A fund can be raised by Zakat, waqf board, and CSR donations for the poor people so that no Bangladeshi people die without a minimum dignity arranged for them. This scheme is to make sure of the right to rest in peace with zero pennies in the pocket.

Biodegradable coffins, vertical burials, and eco-friendly designs can decrease the consumption of land and expand the lifespan of graves.

graveyard and urbanization

Conclusion

When people die, they can’t speak, vote, or oppose. And there is a proverb that, “A country is not judged by how it treats the living people, but by how it treats the dead. Bangladesh has a graveyard land crisis- it’s not a mere legal issue but a sign of how we have failed as a nation and humans that we can’t let people die in peace. So it’s high time we proposed a reformation not just to solve a legal issue but to protect our self-esteem as a nation in a lawful and equitable way.

AUTHOR______________________________________

Khandaker Nusrat Jahan Is a second-year law student at Bangladesh University of Professionals(BUP), with an academic interest in constitutional law and International legal principles. She is deeply passionate about justice and legal reforms, her writing often blends legal insight with nuanced reflections drawn from personal observation and lived experience.