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.

Updated on: Jul 16, 2025, 05:14:36 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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