A part of the house of Ekushey Padak-winning poet Rafiq Azad was demolished by the National Housing Authority yesterday morning in the presence of police. 

Confirming the matter, the poet's wife, Professor Dilara Hafiz, said, "Without serving any prior notice, police arrived in the morning and demolished the western part of our house. Afterwards, they instructed us to quickly remove our furniture and essential belongings before temporarily suspending the eviction drive."

However, Tayeb-Ur-Rahman Ashik, executive magistrate of the National Housing Authority's Mirpur division-2, said the house of poet Rafiq Azad was not demolished during their operation.

According to Ashik, there are four one-storey buildings on the premises, all of which are occupied by tenants. Of these, two buildings -- including Rafiq Azad's residence -- are protected by a High Court status quo order.

"We demolished two buildings located at the back of Rafiq Azad's house," he said.

Ashik said although no part of Rafiq Azad's residence was demolished, the executive engineer concerned has assured him that the boundary wall will be rebuilt.

The four-unit house includes one unit occupied by Dilara Hafiz, while the other three are reportedly allocated to different individuals. The western section of the house, located at 139/4A, Road 1, Dhanmondi, covers approximately five kathas of land.

In 1988, the Estate Office temporarily allocated the single-storey house to Dilara Hafiz, then a lecturer at Eden College.

Years later, a man named Syed Nehal Ahad claimed ownership of the property and, in 2012, obtained a court verdict in his favour.

Dilara Hafiz subsequently filed a case against him, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, and the National Housing Authority. The court issued a stay order, later made permanent the following year.

The case was later transferred to the 7th Assistant Judge's Court in Dhaka, with the next hearing for witness testimony scheduled for May 25.

On Tuesday, Dilara Hafiz sent letters to Adilur Rahman Khan, adviser to the housing and public works ministry, as well as the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, outlining the legal status of the property.

Despite this, the eviction drive proceeded early Wednesday morning.

Dilara Hafiz, a retired chairperson of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, said, "We have been consistently requesting the government to preserve this house as a memorial to Rafiq Azad since his death in 2016."

"Most recently, we met with Adviser Adilur Rahman on April 11. He told us the legal process would take its own course. Then suddenly, without any formal notice, the demolition began on Wednesday morning. They did not give us any deadline to vacate the house," she added.