The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh on Thursday clarified that the old, dilapidated Mymensingh house, reported widely as the ancestral property of filmmaker Satyajit Ray being torn down by the authorities there, did not belong to his family and was unconnected to his lineage.
The statement issued by the Bangladesh’s foreign ministry urged restraint so that a “factually inaccurate narrative” did not end up creating confusion or disrupting harmony.
“Detailed inquiry into the archival records re-confirmed that the house in question never had any relation with the ancestors of the esteemed laureate Satyajit Ray. It was built by a local Zamindar Shashikant Acharya Chowdhury, next to his bungalow house “Shashi Lodge”, for his employees,” read the statement.
“Upon the abolition of the zamindari system, it came under the control of the government. The government later allocated it to the Bangladesh ‘Shishu Academy’.
Ever since, the house has been used as the office of the District Shishu Academy. And, the land itself was a non-agricultural government (Khas) land and leased to Shishu Academy on a long-term basis,” it added.
“The District Authorities have reviewed the land records related to the house and confirmed that as per the past records the land belongs to the Government and has no association with the Ray family whatsoever. Local senior citizens and respected individuals from various communities also attested that there is no known historical connection between the Ray family and the house and land currently leased to the Shishu Academy. The house is not listed as an archaeological monument, either,” the statement added.
After several Bangladeshi media outlets, including The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, published reports that the Mymensingh house on Harikishore Ray Road being demolished was of the Ray family, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed dismay on Tuesday, urging the Yunus-led government’s intervention to protect it.
After this, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre issued an appeal, following which the interim Bangladeshi government purportedly paused the demolition on Wednesday.
In Thursday’s clarificatory statement, Bangladesh said the Ray family did have a house on Harikishore Ray Road, but they had sold it long ago, and the new owner built a multi-storey building in its place.
“The building that is now being demolished was dilapidated, risky and unusable. Since 2014, the Academy had shifted to a rented property elsewhere in Mymensingh city; and the abandoned house became a den for unlawful activities by local anti-social elements. Hence, an initiative was taken to construct a semi-permanent building at the site in the first half of 2024,” read the statement.
“Last afternoon, the Deputy Commissioner of Mymensingh convened a discussion participated by senior citizens, literary and cultural personalities, journalists and other distinguished members of the local community…. All present unanimously supported the construction of a new building for the Shishu Academy considering the benefit of the children of Mymensingh and urged to proceed without delay. All attendees were in unequivocal agreement that the abandoned building of the Bangladesh Shishu Academy has no historical or familial ties with Satyajit Ray or his family,” it added.
“Drawing on the factual and meticulous re-examination of all records, the Government of Bangladesh urges all quarters to refrain from spreading misleading or factually inaccurate narrative, in any form, that end up creating confusion and disrupt harmony amongst the people.”
Hariskishore Ray’s adopted son Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a writer, painter, and entrepreneur who introduced colour printing in Bengal and started the first colour children’s magazine, Sandesh, in 1913.
His son Sukumar Ray was a famous writer, poet and illustrator, who pioneered nonsense verse in Bengali, besides being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. His son Satyajit remains perhaps the most revered icon among Bengalis since Rabindranath Tagore to whom the family was famously close. A director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer, he is deemed widely to be one of the greatest filmmakers in the world.
He won the Bharat Ratna, France’s Commander of the Legion of Honour and the honorary Academy Award.