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Bengali Novelist Sankar Dies at 92 as India Pays Tribute

His work powered landmark film adaptations that fixed Kolkata’s middle class in the national imagination.

Overview

  • His family confirmed he died on February 20 in Kolkata after roughly two weeks of hospital treatment for age-related ailments.
  • His last rites were performed that night at Keoratala crematorium without grandeur, honoring his request.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted condolences on X, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar also paying respects.
  • His celebrated novels Chowringhee, Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya became cinematic touchstones, with Satyajit Ray adapting the latter two for his Calcutta trilogy.
  • Across a seven-decade career he received major honors including the 2021 Sahitya Akademi Award, drawing early inspiration from his clerkship under British barrister Noel Frederick Barwell.