India tells Dhaka to reconsider demolition of Satyajit Ray’s ancestral home, offers help to repair

খবরে প্রকাশ যে, বাংলাদেশের ময়মনসিংহ শহরে সত্যজিৎ রায়ের ঠাকুরদা, স্বয়ং স্বনামধন্য সাহিত্যিক-সম্পাদক উপেন্দ্রকিশোর রায়চৌধুরীর স্মৃতিজড়িত তাঁদের পৈতৃক বাড়িটি নাকি ভেঙে ফেলা হচ্ছে। ভাঙার কাজ শুরু হয়ে গিয়েছিল বলে খবর প্রকাশিত।

এই সংবাদ অত্যন্ত দুঃখের। রায় পরিবার বাংলার…

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 15, 2025

The MEA said: “We note with profound regret that the ancestral property of noted filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, belonging to his grandfather and eminent litterateur, Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, is being demolished. The property, presently owned by the Government of Bangladesh, is in a state of disrepair.”

“Given the building’s landmark status, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh. The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose,” the MEA said.

Seeking New Delhi and Dhaka’s intervention, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday on X, “I learnt from media reports that the memory-entwined ancestral house of renowned writer-editor Upendrakishore Roychowdhury in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh city is being demolished. The reports say that the demolition process had already begun. This is heartbreaking news.”

“The Ray family is one of the most prominent torchbearers of Bengal’s culture. Upendrakishore was among the pillars of the Bengal Renaissance. I feel this house is inextricably linked to Bengal’s cultural history. I appeal to the Bangladeshi government and to all right-thinking people of that country to preserve this edifice of rich tradition. The Indian government should also intervene,” she said.

According to Bangladesh’ Department of Archaeology, the house, located about 120 km north of Dhaka, was built more than a century ago by Upendrakishore. After the Partition of 1947, the property came under government ownership and was repurposed as the Mymensingh Shishu Academy in 1989. A local official in Bangladesh told Daily Star that the demolition is being carried out in accordance with “proper procedures” and “necessary approvals”. A semi-concrete building with several rooms will be built to start academy activities, he said.

Asked why such a historically significant building, located on a 36-decimal plot, was being demolished, the official said the building posed a serious risk for children, when they gathered at the compound, the report said.