Part of the house of Ustad Bismillah Khan, India’s legendary shehnai player and a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, has been demolished in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav has voiced anger at the BJP government over it. The local municipal authority, however, says the demolition was not a government action: family members took the decision themselves to pull down part of the house.
In a post on the social media platform X on Saturday morning, Akhilesh Yadav called the demolition “utterly condemnable”.
“What else can one expect from those for whom the shehnai never played!” he wrote.
Akhilesh alleged that the BJP and its narrow-minded allies have always opposed art and artists, because creative people lay the foundation for social change. Positive art builds empathy and tolerance among people, he said, which is why they see art as an obstacle to their political agenda, or want to use it for their own ends.
He added that destroying the shared heritage of a Bharat Ratna recipient does not only damage that person’s dignity and standing; it also diminishes India’s honour. By engaging in the politics of hate, the BJP is harming the country, he said.
Akhilesh also promised that, if his party comes to power, it will build a “listening museum” to preserve Ustad Bismillah Khan’s musical legacy.
Officials of the Varanasi Municipal Corporation said, however, that although a proposal had been made to set up a museum in the house, the family did not agree to it. Instead, citing the building’s dilapidated state, the family decided to demolish it themselves and rebuild.
Sandeep Srivastava, the corporation’s public relations officer, said a project has been undertaken to preserve the memory and contributions of the city’s distinguished figures. Under it, the roads leading to their homes are to be decorated to reflect each person’s life and work, and one room in each home is to be turned into a museum.
As part of this project, there were talks with Ustad Bismillah Khan’s family about setting up a museum in his house. But the family did not agree to the proposal. Because the building was dilapidated, they wanted to pull it down and rebuild it themselves.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report