There is a palatial house just north of Kolkata, in Uttarpara, which was built by Raja Joykrishna Mukherjee, one of the architects of the Bengal and Indian Renaissance of the 19th century. The edifice in question, Uttarpara Rajbari, is associated with such stalwarts of modern Indian history as Sri Aurobindo (on 30th May, 1909, Aurobindo gave his famous Uttarpara speech from Joykrishna Public Library, in this palace), Swami Vivekananda, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Bipin Pal, Masterda Surya Sen, Amarendranath Chatterjee, Binoy-Badol-Dinesh, Bagha Jatin, Prafulla Chaki, Rashbehari Bose many such prominent freedom fighters. Major general AC Chatterjee, Netaji's Lieutenant in the Indian National Army / Azad Hind Fauz, was married to the grand daughter of Raj Mohan Mukherjee, the younger brother of Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee. It is well documented that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had very close relationship with the Mukherjee family.

When Uttarpara Palace was handed over to the government, it was under a condition - that it would be used for the greater good of the people. The palace was converted into Uttarpara General Hospital, the largest healthcare facility in Hoogly District. 

Today the palace is in a state of disrepair and the local authorities are trying to demolish significant distinct architectural components of the palace. If such a demolition, under the garb of renovation takes place, it will forever deprive us and future generations of Indians of an important piece of India’s history and heritage. On the other hand, if the original architecture is restored and a small part of palace is converted into a museum, it would not only preserve India’s rich history and heritage, but also generate employment for local people of Uttarpara from tourism and pilgrimage footfalls.

The following list of accomplishments should suffice for those who do not know much about Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee – 

Raja Peary Mohan was one of the founding members of Calcutta Zoological, Eden Hostel, and Calcutta Medical College & RG Kar Medical College. He provided Rs. 10,000/- (a huge sum in those days) for building the library at Calcutta University. He was also life time President of Bangabasi & Ripon College (renamed as Surendranath College). Raja Peary Mohan was the co-founder of Indian Association of Cultivation of Science, India’s first modern research library and the place where CV Raman did his Nobel Prize winning research and Meghnad Saha was Director.

This palace was built by Raja Joykrishna Mukherjee, in year 1862 for his son Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee. To fully comprehend the importance of the Uttarpara Rajbari, and what we stand to lose forever, should the building be demolished, please consider the following -

•          Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee was Chair of Bengal and Imperial Legislative Council and was a key architect of the Indian judicial system, much like his father 

•          He was a core member of the British India Association & the Viceroy's Council

•          Despite being a Member of the Viceroy Council, he protested violently against the introduction of Salt Tax Act by the British. It was because of him the Salt Tax Act was abolished

•          Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee was the 1st MA of Calcutta University, India’s first modern University.

•          He and his nephew Kumar Rajendranath Mukherjee received Sri Aurobindo from Presidency jail on 30th May 1909 and brought him to Uttarpara where Sri Aurobindo delivered his famous "Uttarpara Speech". See attached picture

•          He (had very close contact with Swami Vivekananda whom he considered to be his younger brother & for this reason he sponsored and hosted the session at Town Hall in Kolkata in celebration of Swamiji's Chicago address. It is well known that he also co-sponsored Swamiji's trip to the US. Every top revolutionary was present at this session including Surendranth Banerjee, Amarendranath Chatterjee et al. 

•          There are many letters from Swami Vivekananda to Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee kept at the Uttarpara Joykrishna Library. 

•          On the request of Rastraguru Surendranath Banerjee, he presided over the 1st anniversary of the Banga Bhanga (Division of Bengal) Movement which was held at the Town Hall Kolkata. 

•          It is heard that secret meetings of Hindu Mahasabha were conducted at his residence. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of of Uttarpara was the nephew of Raja Peary Mohan. 

•          Founder of Jana Sangh – the parent party of BJP, Syama Prasad Mookerjee had paternal connection with the Mukherjee's of Uttarpara

•          Mahatma Gandhi and Jawarhal Nehru came more than twice to meet Raja Peary Mohan in the Uttarpara Palace

•          Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Uttarpara a few times too to meet Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

So it is clear that the Uttarpara Rajbari connects many generations of India’s luminaries – from Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo to Gandhi, Nehru, SP Mukherjee and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and could even be considered one of the birth places of the Bengal Renaissance, of Indian freedom movement and in the present days, one of the birth places of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Indeed this building has a connection with the previous 5-6 generations of luminaries who helped to shape modern India.  Understandably, it would be a criminal loss if a building of such significance were to be demolished. 

We request your support in generating awareness about this, by SIGNING THE PETITION to both stop the demolition (and instead to initiate the preservation of the building), and by SHARING THIS CAMPAIGN ON SOCIAL MEDIA (TWITTER, FACEBOOK, Whatsapp ETC) and with any one you think may be interested in this matter.

With your help in spreading the word, we can get this to 3000 signatures quickly - FOR WHICH WE NEED MORE SHARES - Facebook, Whatsapp et al