Mamata expresses concern over 'demolition' of Satyajit Ray's ancestral property in Bangladesh

Kolkata, July 15 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, expressed concern over reports of the ancestral residence of India’s iconic film director and writer Satyajit Ray at Mymensingh city in neighbouring Bangladesh being demolished.

“News reports reveal that in Bangladesh's Mymensingh city, the ancestral home of Satyajit Ray’s grandfather, the renowned writer-editor Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, steeped in his memories, is reportedly being demolished. It is said that the demolition work had already begun. This news is extremely distressing. The Ray family is one of the foremost bearers and carriers of Bengali culture. Upendrakishore is a pillar of Bengal’s renaissance. Therefore, I believe this house is intricately tied to the cultural history of Bengal,” the Chief Minister said in a post on X.

The Chief Minister, at the same time, demanded that the Union government should immediately pay attention to the matter. She also appealed to the Bangladesh government and all the conscientious people of that country to take steps to preserve this heritage-laden house.

Notably, Mamata Banerjee last month wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the latter to take up the matter with the Bangladesh Government, the issue of reported vandalisation of the ancestral house of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in Sirajganj, in the neighbouring country.

In the letter, she urged the Prime Minister to take up the matter very strongly with the Bangladesh government so that no stone would be left unturned to swiftly bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous and mindless act.

--IANS

src/uk