India offers help to restore Satyajit Ray's ancestral home in Bangladesh

The Indian government has offered to help restore the noted filmmaker's ancestral home in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, urging its preservation as a cultural landmark instead of being demolished

The Indian government has expressed its willingness to work alongside Bangladeshi authorities to restore the ancestral house of iconic filmmaker and writer Satyajit Ray, which is currently in a neglected state in Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

 

In an official statement issued on July 9, India said it “notes 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, which is owned by the Government of Bangladesh, “is in a state of disrepair,” the statement noted. The building holds historical and cultural importance, as it represents the Bangla literary renaissance.

Call to preserve cultural landmark

India has suggested that, rather than allowing the demolition to go ahead, alternative options should be explored to restore and repurpose the building. The statement read: “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.”

 

Offering support for this cause, the Indian government added: “The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose.”

 

The call for action follows rising concerns over the potential loss of a culturally significant site tied to one of South Asia’s greatest literary and cinematic figures.

 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also voiced her concerns on social media. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), she said: “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.”

 

Banerjee further appealed to the Bangladeshi government, currently led by its chief adviser Mohammad Yunus, as well as citizens of the country, to take steps to protect the house. She also urged the Indian central government to intervene.

'Abandoned for a decade'

According to the Department of Archaeology in Bangladesh, the house was constructed over 100 years ago. After the 1947 partition of India, it came under the ownership of the then East Pakistan government.

 

“The house has been left abandoned for 10 years. Shishu Academy activities have been operating from a rented space,” Md Mehedi Zaman, the Children’s Affairs Officer in Dhaka, told Bangladeshi publication The Daily Star.

 

He confirmed that a semi-concrete building with multiple rooms will be constructed on the same site to resume the academy’s activities, adding that the demolition has been approved through official channels.

 

When questioned about the decision to tear down such a historically important structure, Zaman responded that the building posed safety concerns. “The building posed a serious risk for children, when they gather at the compound,” he said.