Satyajit Ray's ancestral home in Dhaka to be demolished by Bangladesh govt? Mamata Banerjee says...

Legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray's ancestral home in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka is being demolished by local authorities, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in an X post on Tuesday. The century-old house located on the city's Horikishore Ray Chowdhury road belonged to the filmmaker's grandfather, the esteemed litterateur Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. Citing media reports, Banerjee stated that demolition work on the property 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 CM wrote in her post.

Why is the house being razed?
Banerjee has appealed to Muhammad Yunus-led government in Bangladesh to stop the demolition, also saying the Indian government should pay attention to the matter. "I appeal to the Bangladesh government and all the conscientious people of that country to take steps to preserve this heritage-laden house. The Indian government should pay attention to this matter," her post read. Ray's ancestral home was once used as a children's academy, but eventually fell into despair due to years of neglect by authorities. It is now being razed to make way for the construction of a new semi-concrete structure, according to the Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star.

When was the property built?
According to Bangladesh's archaeology department, the house was built over a century ago. After the partition of India in 1947, the property came under government ownership. "The house has been left abandoned for 10 years. Shishu Academy activities have been operating from a rented space," Mehedi Zaman, Children Affairs Officer of Dhaka, told Daily Star. A semi-concrete building with several rooms will be built to start academy activities, he further said.