Demolition of Satyajit Ray's ancestral home in Bangladesh halted; officials deny family's ownership
According to a report by Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo, Mymensingh deputy commissioner Mufidul Alam said, 'This house does not belong to Satyajit Ray or his family. They never lived here. Bangladesh Government is the owner of the house, according to records.'
As news of the demolition of renowned film director Satyajit Ray's ancestral house in Bangladesh's Mymensingh hit the headlines, Bangla literature and film enthusiasts and the West Bengal government urged the Bangladeshi government to halt the operations.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress National General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee also expressed concern over the demolition of Satyajit Ray's ancestral house in Bangladesh's Mymensingh.
On Wednesday, Abhishek demanded that the Government of India should talk to the Bangladesh Government regarding the preservation of the family home of the Ray family, which has made an incomparable contribution to Bengali culture.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee had said, "News reports reveal that in Bangladesh's Mymensingh city, the ancestral home of Satyajit Ray's grandfather, the renowned writer-editor Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, steeped in his memories, is reportedly being demolished. It is said that the demolition work had already begun. This news is extremely distressing."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
14 minutes ago
- First Post
Police shocked as 'Neha' of Bhopal turns out to be Abdul from Bangladesh: Report
Abdul Kalam entered India at age 10 and spent two decades in Mumbai before moving to Bhopal's Budhwara area. There, he reportedly established his fake identity as 'Neha', a transgender person read more Bhopal Police have uncovered a potential illegal immigration and identity fraud scheme after detaining Abdul Kalam, a Bangladeshi national who lived in the city for eight years under the false identity of Neha, a transgender woman. Kalam entered India at age 10 and spent two decades in Mumbai before moving to Bhopal's Budhwara area. He then allegedly faked his identity as a transgender person and integrated into the local hijra community, according to a NDTV report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Using forged documents obtained through local agents, he secured an Aadhaar card, ration card, and even an Indian passport. Police say Kalam, known locally as 'Neha,' frequently changed residences within Budhwara and used his fake identity to travel abroad on the forged passport. Authorities verifying gender Authorities are now medically verifying his gender to determine if he is biologically transgender or used the identity to avoid detection. Investigations suggest Kalam was involved in transgender community activities in Maharashtra, raising suspicions of a broader network. Police are questioning whether other community members knowingly or unknowingly supported the deception. Two local youths accused of helping Kalam obtain fake documents are under interrogation, and authorities suspect this case may reveal a larger racket involving illegal immigration and document forgery. Call records and chats from Kalam's phone are being examined for further clues. Deportation proceedings begin Kalam has been detained for 30 days under the Foreigners Act. Additional DCP Shalini Dixit told reporters, 'He has been living in Bhopal for the last 8-10 years. Before that, he was in Maharashtra. We received a tip-off through an informer and initiated the identification process. He has also travelled to Bangladesh in the meantime, and we are awaiting reports from concerned departments.' Deportation proceedings have begun, but not before a thorough probe into Kalam's activities, movements, and connections in India and abroad. The case has alarmed law enforcement, raising serious questions about national security and how a foreign national could live undetected in a major Indian city for years using fraudulent documents. Bhopal Police, alongside central agencies, are working urgently to determine the full scope of the fraud and whether this is an isolated case or part of a larger, more concerning network. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma & WB counterpart Mamata Banerjee engage in a bitter verbal volley over infiltration, identity & language
A dispute has erupted between Assam's chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and West Bengal's chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The conflict centers on Bengali speakers, identity, and demographic shifts in Assam. Banerjee criticized Assam's stance on language rights. Sarma defended Assam's actions, citing concerns about illegal immigration and demographic changes. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee are engaged in a bitter verbal volley over the Bengali speaking, identity and demographic stated in X, 'The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional. This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights.'Sarma replied, 'In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land. This is not a political narrative—it's a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicize it. 'He continued, 'We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation. While we are acting decisively to preserve Assam's identity, you, Didi, have compromised Bengal's future—encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community, appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity—all just to stay in power. Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, its dignity, and its people—with courage and constitutional clarity'.Controversy started earlier this month when Sarma said that Assamese is the state language and there cannot be blackmail to it. He said that threats by some minority organizations that they will not write Assamese as their mother tongue in the census will only quantify the number of Bodoland Territorial Council Minority Students Union (ABMSU) threatened to replace language in the census. He threatened to replace Assamese with Bengali following the state government's eviction drive in had said, "Language cannot be used as a tool for blackmail. In Assam, Assamese is permanent — both as the state and official language. However, if they write Bengali in electoral rolls or census, it will only quantify the number of foreigners in the state.'ABMSU leader Mainuddin Ali said that Bengali-speaking Muslims would now choose to write Bengali — not Assamese — in public declarations, claiming that Assamese would no longer remain a majority language. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) affiliated workers' union, the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), staged a protest march against the National Register of Citizens(NRC) in Siliguri, condemning the alleged harassment and pushback of migrant Bengali-speaking individuals from several BJP-ruled comprise 34% of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4% are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining are mostly Bengali- speaking Muslims.
Economic Times
44 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma & WB counterpart Mamata Banerjee engage in a bitter verbal volley over infiltration, identity & language
ANI Himanta Biswa Sarma (left), Mamata Banerjee Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee are engaged in a bitter verbal volley over the Bengali speaking, identity and demographic stated in X, 'The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional. This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights.'Sarma replied, 'In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land. This is not a political narrative—it's a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicize it. 'He continued, 'We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation. While we are acting decisively to preserve Assam's identity, you, Didi, have compromised Bengal's future—encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community, appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity—all just to stay in power. Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, its dignity, and its people—with courage and constitutional clarity'.Controversy started earlier this month when Sarma said that Assamese is the state language and there cannot be blackmail to it. He said that threats by some minority organizations that they will not write Assamese as their mother tongue in the census will only quantify the number of foreigners. All Bodoland Territorial Council Minority Students Union (ABMSU) threatened to replace language in the census. He threatened to replace Assamese with Bengali following the state government's eviction drive in had said, "Language cannot be used as a tool for blackmail. In Assam, Assamese is permanent — both as the state and official language. However, if they write Bengali in electoral rolls or census, it will only quantify the number of foreigners in the state.'ABMSU leader Mainuddin Ali said that Bengali-speaking Muslims would now choose to write Bengali — not Assamese — in public declarations, claiming that Assamese would no longer remain a majority language. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) affiliated workers' union, the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), staged a protest march against the National Register of Citizens(NRC) in Siliguri, condemning the alleged harassment and pushback of migrant Bengali-speaking individuals from several BJP-ruled states. Muslims comprise 34% of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4% are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining are mostly Bengali- speaking Muslims.
