I am afraid many of today's youth unfortunately consider the connection with the past as 'shackle' forgetting the fact that it is exceedingly important to build bridges with the past just as well as it is necessary to build bridges with the future. Come to think of it, if we did not have that bridge we'd have been lost in an unending chasm and our present would have remained ever so elusive. Some of the people of my generation have indeed sacrificed their past so that the generation of Farhan could have a world from where they could launch themselves to a future. And what a glorious past indeed. These are the people who were associated with a nation that sacrificed its brave sons for the sake of their language. A sacrifice that has been recognised by the world and has been entered into the almanac as a significant day. We belong to a nation that fought for autonomy leading up to a war that liberated our country. If my memory serves me right we are one of the 5/6 nations in the world to have an official document called the "declaration of independence" and that was written by those that Farhan is so wary about. Such are the glories that one can not lose sight of. Perhaps we overplay these than we should. But there are valid reasons for it. The people of Bangladesh, irrespective of caste; creed or vocation fought a war to achieve 'certain something'. These had to do with politics, economy and; more importantly; culture. Yes, the all pervasive culture that includes history; religion; language; food; rituals; societal belief system and of course performing arts. With the advent of Bangladesh, as time passed, we saw that each of the values and ideals that the forerunners of the independence movement stood for was to make way for whatever we fought against. Secularism had to make way for religious bigotry; Bangla culture replaced by a cocktail of unknown non-culture, language and the spirit of it that we revered so dearly was mutilated, the polity was beaten around by people with dictatorial ambitions. So we were pushed back to square one. Every time we thought of starting afresh we were intimidated by regressive schemes that made us revisit our history and refer back in time. I don't think that we can start anew before sorting out these issues. We have to go back to our roots and peruse the basis of our nationhood to take a stride towards the future. This does not make thoughts 'stale or undesirable'. These exercises are absolutely necessary. No new leadership should ever consider ditching its founding fathers and their knowledge of the people and the country. This would mean defeating the cause of our 'being'. Let the "generation 71" come forward and help rediscover what made us tick in '71, meet the people beyond the confines of our capital, understand and speak their language and take over. Wishing all the best to Farhan and his generation.

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Nazim Farhan Chowdhury regarding the representation of those under 40 (calling themselves generation '71) in the caretaker government. In fact I will go further, as I have always suggested in my articles, this generation should take up the leadership in as many sectors as possible. The time has come now for them to be directly involved in politics and as a show of force should prepare themselves to be the candidates for the next parliamentary election.

Enough is enough with the old and stale ideas which have failed the nation. Let us give opportunity to the new generation and let them prove themselves their capability to build a better Bangladesh.

I have faith in them and believe they will do a better job than us.
Akku Chowdhury, Banani, Dhaka