Ties to one’s ancestral home and land run deep. But ties to one’s ideological community may, in some cases, run deeper.

So proved the late screen legend Soumitra Chatterjee when in 2007 he coordinated his family efforts to sell their ancestral home — at a nominal price — to a charitable trust run by the Left.

Long known for his outspoken Leftist views, residents of Krishnagar, where Chatterjee was born, remember the incident as representative of the actor’s “social commitment”.

“Sudha Niloy”, Chatterjee’s childhood home located on RN Tagore Street in Krishnagar town was also an incubator of the veteran actor’s leanings by way of being home to his freedom fighter uncle Jatindranath Mukherjee (1879-1915) better known as “Bagha Jatin”.

Though Chatterjee never met his uncle, the home remained a testament to Jatindranath’s memory — being wounded in a gunfight against the British Army and dying a martyr on September 9, 1915 — and compelled Chatterjee in his later life to ensure that the legacy was not lost to commercial development.

“Soumitra babu was immensely proud of his uncle and though they could never meet, his legacy contributed to Soumitra babu’s views,” said a resident of the area. Bagha Jatin succumbed to gun wounds suffered at a battle in Balasore on September 9, 1915.

The street where the house stands, and the plaque with its name, “Sudha Niloy”. Pictures by Pranab Debnath

Local sources said that Chatterjee in 2007 spearheaded his family efforts to sell the property to the Amritendu Mukherjee Bhawan Trust, named in honour of freedom fighter and three-time Left Front-era minister. A popular mass leader, the Left’s Nadia dispensation took up the trust as a public welfare cause upon his passing.

“Soumitra babu always wanted his childhood home to be used towards community development. He was worried about its dilapidated state but still did not want it sold to a developer,” said Sumit De, district secretary of the Nadia CPM. “When he (Chatterjee) expressed his concerns about the condition of his childhood home, and the need to sell it, we alerted him to the existence of the trust and he seemed eager. He successfully brought on board his cousins and nephews,” added De.

On April 19, 2007, the deed for the transfer of the property — on 10 cottahs — was signed.

“It was a great gesture on his part, to donate a part of his legacy towards a social cause,” said former CPM MLA Samsul Mollah. He used the term “donate” as the property was sold at a “very nominal price”, said sources.

“It was a cherished moment for the party as well, because it contributed directly to Amritendu babu’s legacy. The gesture was wholly unexpected and came solely at Soumitra babu’s initiative,” added MLA S.M. Sadi, chairman of the Amritendu Mukherjee Bhawan Trust and CPM district secretariate member who in 2007 signed the deed as recipient in the presence of Chatterjee and his family.

Sources added that owing to lack of funds, maintaining the former structure had proved difficult.

“Plans are underway to construct a new structure as the old one has been deemed condemned,” said a source.

“The building is still in a precarious state with many parts beyond repair. It has been this way since 1985. Our plan is to construct a new auditorium and guest house named after Amritendu Babu and with memorabilia dedicated to Soumitra Chatterjee and Bagha Jatin (freedom fighter and Chatterjee’s uncle Jatindranath),” added former MLA Samsul Mollah.