Kolkata:Celebrated musician Hemant Kumar's ancestral home in Bhawanipore area of Kolkata has been demolished by a group of realtors to build an apartment in the same place.
Earlier, Kumar's house situated behind Menoka cinema hall in Lake Road had been pulled down. Now, his ancestral house in Bhawanipore's Rupnarayan Nandan Lane has bit dust.
Hemant Mukherjee, popularly known as Hemant Kumar, was born on June 16, 1920, in Bohoru area of South 24 Parganas district. The music legend grew up at the Bhawanipore residence which was frequently visited by several luminaries from the music industry such as Gouriprasanna Majumdar, Manna Dey, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh, Mohammed Rafi and many others.
Realtors demolish Hemant Kumar's ancestral house in Kolkata Kumar had earlier turned down the idea of selling the house. Though he had shifted to the Lake Road house, he used to frequently visit his Bhawanipore residence. More so, he made it a point every year to attend and perform in the annual function of his locality's boxing club post-Diwali.
The decision of selling off and demolishing the building has been strongly criticised by Hemant Mukherjee Birth Centenary Committee.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, former Kolkata Police Commissioner and committee chairman Tushar Talukdar told that the lack of proactiveness of the state government has resulted in the demolition.
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"State government's apathy is one of the main reasons for not renovating the singer's Bhawanipore building into a gallery or a museum. Though he was born in South 24 Parganas, yet this was the building where his talent first got recognised and he flowered as a musician. It is sad that we cannot keep anything intact. We will approach Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her intervention. The committee has decided to inform the Chief Minister with a proposal to build a Hemant Memorial Museum, where the singer's ancestral home used to be. This is the least we can do for our future generation," said Talukdar.
Realtors demolish Hemant Kumar's ancestral house in Kolkata In a conversation with ETV Bharat, West Bengal State Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who is a neighbour of the legendary singer, said: "The house has been sold off by the singer's relatives. Hemant Mukherjee's elder brother used to stay in that house with his family members, but the singer had shifted to Lake Road. The entrance to the house was extremely narrow and had become inhabitable due to non-maintenance. We had good relations with the singer's family, but I think there was no way the building could be maintained."
"I simply cannot believe that Hemanta Mukherjee's ancestral house was pulled down. It is such a shock for hundreds of his fans. It is really very sad," said Professor Debjani Mitra, one of the many fans of Hemant Kumar.
