West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday raised alarm over the demolition of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s ancestral house in Dhaka by Bangladeshi authorities. The century-old constructing, positioned on Horikishore Ray Chowdhury Highway, as soon as belonged to Ray’s grandfather, Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury, a well-liked determine in Bengali literature and the Bengal Renaissance motion.
Citing native media reviews, Banerjee mentioned that demolition work on the historic construction has already begun.
“This information is extraordinarily distressing. The Ray household is among the foremost bearers and carriers of Bengali tradition. Upendra Kishore is a pillar of Bengal’s renaissance. Subsequently, I consider this home is intricately tied to the cultural historical past of Bengal,” Banerjee mentioned in a put up in Bengali on X (previously Twitter).
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
She additionally made an attraction to the Bangladesh authorities underneath Prime Minister Mohammad Yunus, in addition to to the folks of Bangladesh, to protect the culturally vital home. Banerjee additionally urged the Indian authorities to intervene within the matter.
What India mentioned
Quickly after, the Authorities of India issued a press release expressing “profound remorse” over the demolition of the home and prolonged a suggestion to cooperate with Bangladesh in restoring and preserving it.
“We word with profound remorse that the ancestral property of famous filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, belonging to his grandfather and eminent litterateur, Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, is being demolished,” the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) mentioned in a press release.
“Given the constructing’s landmark standing, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it could be preferable to rethink the demolition and look at choices for its restore and reconstruction as a museum of literature and an emblem of the shared tradition of India and Bangladesh,” it added.
“The Authorities of India can be keen to increase cooperation for this objective.”
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In accordance with The Each day Star, the property, as soon as used because the Mymensingh Kids’s Academy, had fallen right into a state of disrepair after years of neglect. The constructing is being demolished to make means for a brand new semi-concrete construction.
Officers from the Bangladesh Division of Archaeology confirmed the home was constructed greater than a century in the past. After the 1947 Partition, it was taken over by the federal government.
“The home has been left deserted for 10 years. Shishu Academy actions have been working from a rented house,” mentioned Md Mehedi Zaman, Dhaka’s Kids Affairs Officer, in feedback to The Each day Star.
“A semi-concrete constructing with a number of rooms will likely be constructed to start out academy actions,” he added, noting that the demolition is being carried out with vital authorities approvals.
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When requested why a constructing with such cultural and historic significance was being torn down, the official mentioned it posed a security hazard: “The constructing posed a severe danger for kids, once they collect on the compound.”