Baul Dada Returns Home
Sanwar Ahmed, better known to the Jackson Heights community as Baul Dada or Jhal Muri Dada has been bringing joy to people through his soulful singing and his jhal muri for over a decade.
Earlier this month, at the age of 92, Baul Dada was finally able to return home to Bangladesh after 42 years of living in the US as an undocumented immigrant. For more than four decades, he has been living and working in this country alone so that he can support his family back in Bangladesh. And in all this time, systemic economic and immigration barriers have kept him separated from his family—his wife, his two daughters, and two sons. While he's been living and working away from his family, he has lost his youngest son and one of his sons-in-law.
Baul Dada’s experience as an undocumented working class immigrant shows the injustices and struggles of surviving the harshness of being in the US. In the span of 40+ years, he bore witness to several false promises about immigration reform and amnesty made by past presidents. Because of their deceptive promises, Baul Dada was never able to visit his children and family in Bangladesh without the risk of never being able to return to the US. During this same time period, decades of war and economic instability in the Global South fomented and sanctioned by those same US presidents has been a driving force for the mass migration of people like Baul Dada.
While immigrants struggle to survive in a foreign homeland, they have also been a part of the fabric of the struggle to transform society. This has also been true for Baul Dada. Since 2016, he has been part of organizing street vendors in Jackson Heights with DRUM—Desis Rising Up and Moving in response to NYPD's attacks on street vendors. In June 2016, his food cart and everything with it was taken and destroyed by the NYPD and Department of Health.
Baul Dada fought on his own behalf and alongside other immigrant, working class communities. He was one of the lead plaintiffs in a legal battle led by Street Vendor Project against the city and its agencies which threw away carts, materials, supplies, and food of street vendors. This issue continues to this day as the NYPD continues to harass street vendors all while the city itself has refused to issue permits to thousands of workers. Baul Dada was a key figure in solidifying the foundations for organizing to challenge and change the conditions of street vendors in New York City.
US society shapes and limits options for immigrants. After decades of living alone and given his age and health, Baul Dada made the hard decision to return to Bangladesh and leave the US behind. When Baul Dada announced he had decided to return home to be with his family in the last years of his life, so many of you donated to support him with the travel expenses and costs of getting settled upon returning to Bangladesh. (https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-jhal-muri-dadas-return-home)
The experience of undocumented workers moving into their elder years is both grinding and jarring. Baul Dada’s journey home was delayed by nearly four years because of health complications which he had to seek treatment for in the US. While he fought to recover enough of his health for the trip back to his homeland, he also committed to see his legal battle against the city to the end and in 2019, he and hundreds of other street vendors successfully organized and won against the city’s abuses of street vendors. When the pandemic began in 2020, Baul Dada’s opportunity to travel to Bangladesh was made even more complicated and was delayed again. In addition, he even faced harassment with threats of eviction from his landlord while recovering from surgery, unable to work.
Baul Dada’s life as an ordinary street vendor and undocumented immigrant has been extraordinary. For both his organizing and his jhal muri, he has become a local celebrity and has been featured on multiple platforms. Baul Dada has been featured on Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown blog. His food cart and his home was included as an exhibit at the Museum of Food and Drink by the Knights of the Raj NYC and UK artist Mohammed Ali. In 2018 he was also awarded the Community Leadership Award at Chhaya CDC’s Chapati Mela.
For decades, Jhal Muri Dada has been a beloved member of our community. It is truly bittersweet to see him return to Bangladesh. Our hearts ache for our friend and comrade who will not be able to return to the US, his home for the past four decades. It is enraging and unjust that this city and country could not offer any protections to someone who has fought to better the lives of the working class. We continue our organizing, building on your courage and contributions to our movements.
At the same time, we wish him rest, comfort, and love as he settles into his return—surrounded by his children, grandchildren and other beloved family whom he hasn’t seen in decades. We celebrate you, Baul Dada, and the labor, care and dignity you brought to the life of our working class communities.
