The committee to probe the incident of demolishing internationally renowned filmmaker Ritwik Kumar Ghatak’s ancestral home in the Rajshahi city found Rajshahi Homeopathic College and Hospital authorities’ indifference to save the property.
Additional deputy commissioner for education and ICT Mohinul Hasan, the lone member of the committee, submitted the report to Rajshahi deputy commissioner Shameem Ahmed on Thursday noon.
This correspondent obtained a copy of the probe report.
‘The college authorities have admitted that after some unidentified people demolished the north side wall of the Ritwik Ghatak’s ancestral home, they had pulled the rest three side walls down, which proves that the college authorities are indifferent to save the memory of the filmmaker,’ the report read.
The report also made some recommendations including taking necessary steps to hand over the land where Ritwik Ghatak’s ancestral home is located to the Ritwik Ghatak Film Society, and taking immediate measures to set up a ‘Ritwik Mancha and Ritwik Archive’ there.
Ritwik Ghatak Film Society and cultural activists, meanwhile, rejected the probe report, alleging that the probe committee gave a partial report to save the college authorities.
Mahmud Hossain Masud, general secretary of Ritwik Ghatak Film Society, said that the Rajshahi Homeopathic College and Hospital authorities demolished Ritwik Ghatak’s home in a planned way to erase the filmmaker’s memory.
‘Hours before demolishing the home, the college’s CCTV camera was turned off, which clearly proves that the college authorities had demolished it,’ he said, adding that it was recommended in the report that the college principal could not identify who demolished the north side wall on August 06.
‘But, principal Anisur Rahman admitted to the media on August 14 that some former and current students of the college vandalised and pulled down Ritwik’s home. But, we have not found anything about this in the probe report,’ he said.
Mahmud also said that the probe committee also recommended that the homeopathic college authorities would look after the remains of Ritwik Ghatak’s home until the land was handed over to Ritwik Ghatak Film Society.
‘The college authorities, who planned to demolish Ritwik Ghatak’s home, are given the responsibility to look after the remains. We strongly protest at the report,’ he said, adding that they would declare a tougher movement in this regard soon.
During the 1947 Partition of India, Ritwik had to migrate to India with his family and the authorities later declared his ancestral home ‘vested property’.
In 1989, the Ershad government handed over the land to the homeopathic college, and the authorities demolished the northern part of the old building and erected a two-storey building in 2006.