A signboard at a disputed property in Cumilla has become the latest flashpoint in a decades-long struggle over the ancestral home of Dhirendranath Dutta, one of the earliest advocates for Bangla as a state language of Pakistan.
On November 7, activists of the National Citizen Party (NCP) pulled down the signboard installed by Dutta's granddaughter, Aroma Dutta, at the family property in Jhawtala, beside Dharmasagar Lake.
The activists want the government to preserve the site as a museum and library. Aroma said the family has its own preservation plans and that decisions about the property belong to its legal heirs.
She suspected an attempt to take control of valuable land under the cover of heritage preservation.
"This is not really about heritage preservation. I believe this is part of an attempt to grab our land. This is how land grabbing against minority communities takes place," she told Daily Waadaa.
The property however is the subject of a contested sale agreement dating back roughly three decades. A businessman claims he has an enforceable agreement to purchase it. Aroma disputed that claim and said the courts have settled the matter.
Meanwhile, the Department of Archaeology has yet to decide whether the site qualifies for formal protection.
"The family will decide how to preserve the property. They have no authority to decide what happens to it. Why should others make that decision?" Aroma told Waadaa.
She maintained that the heirs retained the right to decide whether to preserve or sell the property.
Aroma also alleged that her position as a woman from a minority community, combined with her family's political background, had exposed her to harassment.
"I am a Bangladeshi citizen and have the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. Does that mean people can take advantage of my circumstances and harass me?" she said.
The NCP argues that the property's historical importance makes its preservation a matter of national interest.
In a statement, Masumul Bari Kawsar, member secretary of the party's Cumilla city committee, said the house should not be sold as ordinary private property.
On Sunday, the committee submitted a memorandum to the prime minister through the deputy commissioner, demanding that the government establish a museum and library at the site.
Kawsar could not be reached despite repeated attempts.
Md Ataullah, the NCP's Cumilla divisional organising secretary, said he was unaware of the details of the signboard incident and would consult local party leaders.
"We must recognise the contributions of those who played important roles in our country's history and preserve our heritage," he told Waadaa. But he distanced the party from the removal of the signboard.
"Such an incident is certainly not desirable. I do not know who was involved, but such actions are not part of NCP's politics. This is not the kind of politics that NCP stands for," he said.
The campaign to preserve Dhirendranath's home predates the NCP by many years.
Dhirendranath was a lawyer, politician and member of Pakistan's first Constituent Assembly. Before Partition, he was active in the Indian National Congress and the anti-colonial independence movement. He was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937 and again in 1946.
Unlike many Hindu politicians who left East Bengal after Partition in 1947, Dhirendranath remained in East Pakistan. He later served as minister for health and social welfare between 1956 and 1958.
His place in Bangladesh's history rests particularly on an intervention in Pakistan's Constituent Assembly on February 25, 1948.
Dhirendranath proposed that Bangla be permitted alongside Urdu and English in the assembly's proceedings. He also argued for its recognition as a state language, pointing out that Bangla was spoken by the majority of Pakistan's population.
The intervention preceded the defining events of the Language Movement in February 1952 by four years. Dhirendranath built his house in Cumilla in the late 1940s and lived there with his family.
On the night of March 29, 1971, Pakistani occupation forces took Dhirendranath and his son, Dilip Kumar Dutta, from the property to Mainamati Cantonment, now Cumilla Cantonment.
Published accounts say both men were tortured to death. Their bodies were never recovered. Dhirendranath was posthumously awarded Bangladesh's Independence Award in 1997 for his contributions to the Language Movement and the Liberation War.
The house once stood on approximately 15 decimals of land, according to local residents. It was a tin-roofed structure, gradually demolished over subsequent years.
The disappearance of much of the original building has complicated efforts to preserve the site.
Kazi Enamul Haque Faruk, president of Cumilla Press Club and a journalist with Ekattor Television, said local journalists and residents had been pressing the authorities to act since at least 2010.
"We raised the issue with the then state minister for cultural affairs in 2010, demanding that the house be preserved and turned into a museum," he told Waadaa.
According to Faruk, the minister announced that the government would take steps to protect the property and establish a museum in Dhirendranath's memory. No such project followed.
"Every year, particularly around February 21 and International Mother Language Day, we highlighted the demand for its preservation through our media coverage," Faruk told Waadaa.
The dispute is complicated by a separate legal contest over an alleged agreement to sell the land.
Aftab Uddin Ahmed, a Cumilla businessman, told Waadaa that he entered into an agreement with members of the Dutta family around 1995–96 to purchase the property jointly.
He said the sellers subsequently failed to execute the deed, prompting him to take legal action.
"The court directed me to deposit the remaining amount. I deposited the money with the court, which then ordered that the deed be executed through the court if the sellers failed to do so," Aftab said.
According to his account, the case reached the High Court in 2000 and returned to a lower court in 2025 with further directions. He maintained that the litigation remained pending and that an injunction was in force over the property.
Aroma rejected his account.
"Aftab has not purchased the property. He is making false claims. The agreement he refers to has become null and void," she said. "Everything concerning this property has been cleared by the court. I have the RS records, the BS records and the mutation records."
The competing accounts leave important questions about the property's legal status.
Aftab maintains that the original agreement remains enforceable and that the case is pending. Aroma says the agreement is void and that the family's ownership is supported by land records and court decisions.
Aroma also alleged that Aftab had made a derogatory remark during their dispute, referring to her religion and gender.
"We have taken land from so many Hindus. You are just one Hindu woman," she quoted him as saying. The allegation could not be independently verified.
For now, Dutta's ancestral property has no formal protected status under the Department of Archaeology. Rakhee Ray, deputy director for Archaeological Heritage at the department, said officials were examining whether it should be declared a protected heritage site.
"We are currently processing the matter and have sought a report from our regional director in Cumilla. Once we receive the report, we will be able to say whether the house will be declared protected," she told Waadaa.
Ray said the process of declaring a property protected and publishing the decision in the official gazette could take considerable time. Such a declaration would not automatically transfer ownership to the government.
The legal heirs could retain the property and continue living there. But restrictions would apply to demolition, damage or substantial alteration of protected structures. The department could also undertake repairs or provide technical assistance.
According to Ray, the owners could still sell a protected property, although the government would have priority in purchasing it. A sale to another buyer would require government permission if the state did not acquire it.
Heritage protection however does not necessarily require the government to take ownership. Nor does a property's historical significance, by itself, give political activists the authority to determine its use.
Professor Dr Muhammed Shohrab Uddin, an archaeology professor at Cumilla University, said the property deserved state protection because of its association with Dutta.
But he argued that preservation must respect the rights of the heirs.
"If they have the necessary documents and can establish that they are his legal heirs, you cannot deprive them of their property," he told Waadaa.
He proposed that the deputy commissioner's office form a committee to negotiate with the family. The government could then acquire the property at its prevailing market value and develop a national heritage site.
"The government can assure the heirs that they will receive the prevailing market price of the property. The state can then preserve it because their grandfather was such an important figure for this country," he said.
Shohrab also suggested involving the family in the preservation process, rather than treating it as an obstacle.
"There is no reason for so much conflict. This could be resolved through one or two meetings," he said.
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