Satyajit Ray’s Ancestral Home in Dhaka being Demolished
NEW DELHI, July 15: The ancestral home in Dhaka of the eminent filmmaker and winner of many national and international laurels Satyajit Ray is being demolished by Bangladeshi authorities.
This was stated by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee quoting Bangladeshi media reports on Tuesday. The century-old property in Dhaka’s Horikishore Ray Chowdhury Road belonged to Ray’s grandfather, the renowned litterateur Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury. Citing local media reports Ms Banerjee said demolition work on the historic property has already begun.
“This news is extremely distressing. The Ray family is one of the foremost bearers and carriers of Bengali culture. Upendra Kishore is a pillar of Bengal’s renaissance. Therefore, I believe this house is intricately tied to the cultural history of Bengal,” the Chief Minister said in a post on X.
She also appealed to the Mohammad Yunus government in Bangladesh, and all the conscientious people of that country, to take steps to preserve this heritage-laden house.” Banerjee also urged the Indian government to intervene in the matter.
Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury’s house– a prominent archaeological landmark– was formerly used as the Mymensingh Children’s Academy but had reportedly fallen into disrepair after years of neglect by the authorities. It’s being demolished to make way for a new semi-concrete structure,” Bangladeshi media reports said.
According to the Bangladesh Department of Archaeology, the house was built more than a century ago. After the partition of 1947, the property came under government ownership. “The house has been left abandoned for 10 years. Shishu Academy activities have been operating from a rented space,” said Md Mehedi Zaman, Dhaka’s Children Affairs Officer.
A semi-concrete building with several rooms will be built to start academy activities, he said, adding that the demolition is being carried out with necessary approvals. When asked why such a historically significant building was being demolished, the official said the building posed a serious risk for children, when they gather at the compound.
(Manas Dasgupta)
