India offers to work with Bangladesh to save Satyajit Ray’s ancestral property

MEA said it was regrettable that the property in Mymensingh, which once belonged to Ray’s grandfather, Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, was being demolished.

India on Tuesday offered to cooperate with the Bangladesh government to repair and reconstruct the ancestral property of noted filmmaker Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, which is set to be demolished.

“The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose,” the ministry of external affairs said. (Photo: The Daily Star)

The property, currently owned by the Bangladesh government, had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect.

The external affairs ministry said it was regrettable that the property in Mymensingh, which once belonged to Ray’s grandfather, eminent litterateur Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, was being demolished.

“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 ministry said in a statement.

“The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose,” it said.

Reports in the Bangladeshi media said the century-old structure, located on Horikishore Ray Chowdhury Road in Mymensingh, was being demolished to make way for a new building.

The house is linked to the legacy of the Ray family, which made immense contributions to Bengali literature and arts.

After the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, the ownership of the property was taken over by the government, and it was turned into the Mymensingh Shishu Academy in 1989.