POBNEWS24, Dhaka July 15, 2025 : The ancestral house of subcontinental writer Upendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury has been demolished. The house, which was previously used as the Mymensingh Shishu Academy, is being demolished to make way for a new semi-concrete structure.
Upendra Kishore was the father of renowned poet Sukumar Ray and grandfather of filmmaker Satyajit Ray.
Located on Harikishor Roy Chowdhury Road in the city, this century-old house is associated with the legacy of the famous Roy family, whose contribution to Bengali literature and art is considered the foundation. Harikishor Roy Chowdhury himself was the ancestor of Upendra Kishore, Sukumar and Satyajit.
The house, located just behind Shashi Lodge, is one of the major archaeological sites in the region. The house, which has been neglected for years, has deteriorated.
Local residents say that the demolition will erase the legacy of the Roy dynasty in Mymensingh city.
According to the archaeology department, Upendra Kishore, a famous landlord of Mosuwar in Kishoreganj’s Katiadi upazila, built the house more than a century ago.
After the partition of 1947, the property came under government ownership and was reused as the Mymensingh Shishu Academy in 1989. District Children’s Affairs Officer Md. Mehedi Zaman said that the house has been abandoned for 10 years. The Shishu Academy’s activities are being conducted from a rented space, which will later become the Shishu Academy Bhaban.
The official added that the building was demolished as per the proper procedure and necessary approvals.
He said that a semi-concrete building with several rooms will be constructed to start the academy’s activities.
When asked why the historically important building, located on 36 decimals of land, is being demolished, the official said that the building poses a serious risk to children.
Expressing regret, poet Shamim Ashraf said, “The house was in a pitiful state for years, the roof was cracked but the authorities concerned never looked into the rich history behind the old building,” he added.
He added that the locals had demanded to save the building at various times but to no avail.
Sabina Yasmin, field officer of the Archaeology Department (Dhaka and Mymensingh Divisions) attached to Shashi Lodge, said that the house is not yet listed by the department, but according to the survey, it is an archaeological heritage. The officer said that he had spoken to the officials of Shishu Academy and the administration about the matter and requested to save the building but to no avail.
He said that he had also informed the regional director of the department about the matter. According to a study, in 1961, that is, 13 years after the establishment of Pakistan, the Hindu population in East Pakistan was 18.5 percent. From then until the start of the Liberation War in 1971, the Hindu population remained more or less the same. Most of the Hindus who had fled to India as refugees during the war returned to independent Bangladesh. Disaster struck after that. Within three years of the establishment of the Awami League, the Hindu population had fallen to 13.5 percent. At that time, the country was secular and all Islamic and Muslim parties were banned. Even if there was a slight atrocity against Hindus, these acts were blamed on militants, fundamentalists, and the Jamaat-Shibir. After the Awami League was removed from power, the Hindu population had declined less in the five years up to 1981, when the number was 12.1 percent. When the military ruler Ershad came to power and declared Islam the ‘state religion’, there was a legitimate concern among Hindus and during the nine years of Ershad’s military rule, the number of Hindus had declined to 10.5 percent in 1991. Needless to say, although the Awami League claims to be ‘secular’, they are subtly compromising with Islamic parties (as evidenced by their written agreement with the Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis in 2006. In the agreement, they promised, among other things, that if they came to power, they would not enact any law that contradicts the Quran and Sunnah.) said Kajal Deb Nath, leader of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Okya Parishad. She said, “The gourd is the gourd, but our fate will not change. Today, for what right was the memory of Satyajit Ray destroyed? I put this question to Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Mohammad Yunus.”
Kajal Deb Nath further said, “On October 18, 2021, the human rights organization ‘Ain O Shalish Kendra’ presented a picture of the oppression of Hindus during the Awami League regime. They said that from 2012 to 2021 (the entire regime of the Awami League), there were 3,679 attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. During this time, 559 Hindu houses, 442 Hindu shops were set on fire. 1,678 Hindu temples were attacked, arsoned and many idols were vandalized. In 2014 alone, 11 Hindus were killed, 862 were injured, and 2 Hindu women were raped in various incidents. In 2016, 2017 and 2020, at least 10 Hindu families were evicted from their homes. The houses of the landlords were occupied. Who occupied the property of the landlords of Narail? Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee got married in the house of the landlord of Bhadravila village. Who occupied most of their land? 7 Hindus were killed in 2016.
Who was the leader of any party during the Awami League regime? “They were so worried that anyone else would dare to seize Hindu land and houses. They were either accused in thousands of cases and were in jail or were on the run for fear of being caught. This was done solely by the Awami League people and they always blamed their political opponents.”
