KOLKATA: The Bangladesh Government has issued a statement on Thursday refuting claims of demolition of a property in Mymensingh linked to Satyajit Ray’s family. Highlighting the history of the house, the Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Ministry has urged not to spread misleading news on this matter.In the statement, Bangladesh Foreign Ministry claimed, “Detailed inquiry into the archival records re-confirmed that the house in question never had any relation with the ancestors of esteemed laureate Satyajit Ray. It was built by a local Zamindar Shashikant Acharya Chowdhury, next to his bungalow house “Shashi Lodge”, for his employees. Upon the abolition of the zamindari system, it came under the control of the government.”The government said that the property was later allocated to ‘Bangladesh Shishu Academy’. Ever since, the house has been used as the Office of the District Shishu Academy, the statement added.“In this regard, Swapan Dhar, an archaeology researcher from Mymensingh, also stated that the house in question is not the ancestral home of Satyajit Ray,” the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said.According to the Dhaka statement, since 2014, the Shishu Academy shifted its operations to another place in Mymensingh. Since then, the house has been abandoned. As a result, various anti-social activities have been taking place there, the Bangladesh government said.The statement said that it was decided to build a semi-permanent building at the site in the first half of 2024. Accordingly, with the permission of the Bangladesh Shishu Academy, the district administration decided to demolish the old, dilapidated building through an auction.
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