Kolkata, Jul 16 (V7N) — West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged the governments of Bangladesh and India to reconsider the demolition of the ancestral home of Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury—grandfather of famed filmmaker Satyajit Ray—in Mymensingh. According to reports, the century-old residence, once used as the Mymensingh Children’s Academy, is being razed to make way for a new building. Banerjee described the move as “heartbreaking” and emphasized that the Ray family’s legacy is deeply intertwined with Bengal’s cultural renaissance. She called on the Bangladesh government and concerned citizens to preserve the heritage site and requested the Indian government’s intervention.
 
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs echoed her sentiment, expressing “profound regret” over the demolition and offering technical and financial support to restore the property as a museum symbolizing shared literary heritage .
 
This ancestral house pays tribute to Upendrakishore—writer, illustrator, and pioneering colour-print publisher, credited with founding the children’s magazine Sandesh in 1913. After the 1947 Partition, the house was repurposed by the Bangladeshi government and was used as a children’s academy since 1989. It has stood abandoned for around a decade, with officials citing safety concerns as justification for the selective demolition .
 
Local heritage advocates warn that removal of the structure would erase a vital link to Bengal’s literary and cultural history .
 
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