India on Tuesday called on Bangladesh to reconsider the demolition of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s ancestral home in Mymensingh, offering support for its restoration and proposing that the site be transformed into a "museum of literature."
"We note with profound regret that the ancestral property of noted filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, belonging to his grandfather and eminent litterateur, Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, is being demolished," the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
"The property, presently owned by the government of Bangladesh, is in a state of disrepair. Given the building’s landmark status, symbolizing Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh."
The government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose, it added.
A national daily reported earlier in the day that demolition work is underway at the ancestral home of Satyajit Ray on Harikishore Ray Road.
Harikishore Ray Chowdhury was a zamindar of Mosua in Katiadi upazila of Kishoreganj.
He was the forefather of Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, Sukumar Ray and Satyajit Ray—pioneers of Bangla children's literature.
The old single-storey building on Harikishore Ray Road in Mymensingh town has been used by the Bangladesh Shishu Academy since 1989.
For the past 10 years, no activities could be conducted there due to its dilapidated condition and it remained abandoned.
Over the past few days, demolition work has been ongoing to construct a semi-permanent structure for the operations of the Shishu Academy in Mymensingh.