One of the two structures associated with Bengal’s rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at his birthplace in Churulia has already been demolished, while the other now faces the threat of extinction after being included in a proposed coal mining expansion plan of a state-backed power generation company.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in Churulia village in the then undivided Burdwan district on May 24, 1899, in his ancestral two-storeyed mud house. A structure later built on the homestead by the Nazrul Sanskritik Parishad in 1958 had housed the Nazrul Academy. The building was demolished in August 2025 by the state Tourism Department as part of a redevelopment and heritage beautification plan initiated by the former Mamata Banerjee government in 2022. According to Kazi Ali Reza, the poet’s nephew, Nazrul had stayed at the Academy building for a week in 1967 during his final visit to Churulia. The Academy also housed a museum displaying the poet’s memorabilia, clothing, manuscripts and personal belongings.
“The articles have now been shifted to the custody of Kazi Nazrul Islam University in Asansol,” Mr Reza said. Nazrul was brought to Churulia by the Bengal government after the death of his wife Pramila Nazrul in 1962. As the small Academy building could not accommodate the poet, his family and the large number of admirers visiting the village, he was instead housed in a room at Naba Krishna High School. Dr Haradhan Dutta, among the earliest scholars to earn a PhD on Nazrul’s literature in South Bengal, said the room where the poet stayed was later preserved. In 2003, it was converted into a small museum named Kabi Kaksha, where the poet’s cot, chair, utensils and luggage are still kept.
However, the Power Development Corporation Limited (PDCL), which has been allotted the Tara East and Tara West coal blocks for captive mining, has now sought the school land for mine expansion. Naba Krishna High School headmaster Meghnad Majumdar said the school recently received a letter from the mining operator asking authorities to prepare for vacating the premises. “The mine officials have already conducted surveys and measurements of the school building, of which Kabi Kaksha is an integral part,” he said, adding that villagers had opposed the move.
The matter has been referred to the School Education Department. PDCL General Manager Samaresh Kumar said the land was required for mine expansion and added that IIT Shibpur had begun a survey to facilitate relocation of the school building. The PDCL has been pursuing an expansion plan over 186.42 hectares since 2023 to increase mining capacity from 1.5 million tonnes to 3 million tonnes annually. Officials said the environmental clearance process, including public hearing procedures, is still pending.