Satyajit Ray’s residence in Bangladesh was demolished.
There has been a ruckus over the demolition of the family house of famous filmmakers Bangladesh in Maman Singh district of Bangladesh. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the central government appealed to the Bangladesh government not to demolish the house. Now the Bangladesh government claimed that the house which was dropped was not the house of Satyajit Ray’s ancestors. A long statement was issued by Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday afternoon. It states that this house is currently owned by the government. The history of the house has also been presented there. The Bangladesh government has appealed not to spread misleading news about the matter.
The statement claimed that after a detailed investigation, it was found that this house had no connection with Satyajit Ray’s ancestors. This house was built by local zamindar Shashikant Acharya Chaudhary.
According to a statement by the Bangladesh government, the landlord’s bungalow, ‘Shashi Lodge’, was next to the house which is currently being demolished. The adjacent house was built for those who took care of Shashikant’s property. After the abolition of the zamindari system, the house came into the hands of the government.
Government of Bangladesh made this claim
Later, the Bangladesh government allowed that house to be used by the ‘Bal Academy’ of that country. The statement claimed that since then this house is being used as the office of the Shishu Academy of the district. The non-agricultural residential land recorded in government records was leased to the Shishu Academy for a long time. The statement claimed that local elders and scholars have also said the same thing about the history of the house, which has become the center of controversy overnight.
Detailed Inquiry Into Archive/Records in #Bangladesh Reconfirm: The Building Being Demolished In #Mymensingh District has no historical/family link to iconic bengali filmmaker #Satyajit Ray or his ancestors. pic.twitter.com/it4uwtvbfm
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@bdmofa) July 17, 2025
However, Satyajit’s great -grandfather Harikisho Roy has very little connection with that region. Harikishore Roy adopted Satyajit’s grandfather and famous writer Upendrakishore Roychowhari. The Bangladesh government’s statement said that the road in front of the house is named after Harikishore. The name of the road is Harikishore Roy Road. The Roy family had a house on that road. However, the statement claimed that the house was sold several years ago. Nowadays multi -storey buildings are being built by breaking old houses.
According to a statement received from Dhaka, since 2014, the Shishu Academy has shifted its office to another place in Mamansingh city. Since then this house has been empty.
There is no relation with the ancestors of Satyajit Ray
As a result, the Bangladesh government said that various anti -social activities are happening there. The statement said that in 2024 it was decided to construct a semi-stable building on the property. Accordingly, with the permission of Bangladesh Shishu Academy, the district administration decided to demolish the old house. The demolition of the house was announced on 7 March.
At the end of the statement, the opinion of many prominent people of Bangladesh was expressed. Some of them are poets, some are archaeologists. Everyone says that the house that is being broken has no connection with Satyajit or his ancestors.
According to the statement, the Deputy Commissioner of Memon Singh met these dignitaries on Wednesday afternoon. In that meeting, everyone requested that the old house be demolished soon and a new building should be built for the academy for the benefit of Mayan Singh’s children.
Earlier, the central government issued a statement saying that this house owned by the Bangladesh government needs renewal. Appeal was made to reconsider the decision to demolish the house and proposed to convert it into a literary exhibition hall, for which New Delhi agreed to provide financial assistance to the protection and reconstruction. In this situation, the Bangladesh government claimed that this house is not of the ancestors of Satyajit Ray.
