West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday raised alarm over the demolition of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s ancestral home in Dhaka by Bangladeshi authorities. The century-old building, located on Horikishore Ray Chowdhury Road, once belonged to Ray’s grandfather, Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury, a popular figure in Bengali literature and the Bengal Renaissance movement.
Citing local media reports, Banerjee said that demolition work on the historic structure 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,” Banerjee said in a post in Bengali on X (formerly 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 also made an appeal to the Bangladesh government under Prime Minister Mohammad Yunus, as well as to the people of Bangladesh, to preserve the culturally significant house. Banerjee also urged the Indian government to intervene in the matter.
What India said
Soon after, the Government of India issued a statement expressing “profound regret” over the demolition of the house and extended an offer to cooperate with Bangladesh in restoring and preserving it.
“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 Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
“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,” it added.
“The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose.”
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According to The Daily Star, the property, once used as the Mymensingh Children’s Academy, had fallen into a state of disrepair after years of neglect. The building is being demolished to make way for a new semi-concrete structure.
Officials from the Bangladesh Department of Archaeology confirmed the house was built more than a century ago. After the 1947 Partition, it was taken over by the government.
“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, in comments to The Daily Star.
“A semi-concrete building with several rooms will be built to start academy activities,” he added, noting that the demolition is being carried out with necessary government approvals.
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When asked why a building with such cultural and historical significance was being torn down, the official said it posed a safety hazard: “The building posed a serious risk for children, when they gather at the compound.”
