5 Years of Mukto-Mona

�Jete Habe Bohu Dure� 

Kaberi Gayen

How I became a member of Mukto-Mona around September last year I can�t remember but its great and thanks to M-M family for giving me this opportunity. I can give a big list of reasons why I like M-M. Shall I? Or shan�t I point at least a few of them? I am tempted.  

After the Young Bengal Movement, I don�t find many platforms of �organised� youth in Bengal [I mean within the Bangalee people]. I apologise, if I am wrong. Well, in between time we got the youth involvement in Swadeshi Andolon, language movement and of course in the liberation struggle in 1971, but yet I want to take the risk of telling that in these great movements participation of youth was so mingled with the dominant political forces! We hardly can differentiate the force of youth in it at its own credit. Even if there was any, there was not much continuation to chase the trail. With a few exceptions like �Buddhi Muktir Andolon�, initiated by Kazi Abdul Odud, Kazi Motahar Husain, Syed Abul Husain, Abul Fazl, as a platform of free thinking youths in early twenty century, there are not many platforms around us or safe to tell we lacked this kind of platforms for a while. But with the recent technical advancement of internet, there are a commendable numbers of e-groups these days, each one with their own thoughts and aims and of course free of direct state censorships. Among these groups, especially within Bangla-speaking people, M-M is very special, very vibrant with exuberance of youth. First thing I admire about M-M moderation team is they are not imposing, they don�t give the last verdict about anything rather they try to keep open the discussion forum, which gives a feeling of welcoming. Engaging in Bahas is their aim, they are not the rajas [the kings], rather they are more like the team of Falguni [Rabindra Nath], and they are now out on the paths of the world to discover the paths, as like perfect youth. Age is not a factor in this youth forum, they could accommodate easily youth of Prof Ajoy Roy or Taj Hashmi.  

Another very impressive feature of this group is that the moderators are not the disclaimers of their members� posted thoughts and ideas. They are not so called neutrals rather they fight, if needs be, in favour of their declared aims, which themselves are fighting for free thinking. To accommodate both the �bounded norm� [Kincaid] and �freedom� in one frame of practice is not very easy. Rabindra Nath wished combining these two (�Aamar ekdike bandhan arekdike mukti�). M-M is trying achieving that. 

Should I also tell about how good are they in publishing on evolution, culture, secularism, and democracy? Perhaps not�I am not at all interested in how excellent articles they are publishing rather I am more interested how excellently they are trying to convey the discourses in these areas to many people, even to a lay person like me. May be some of M-M members are good in literature, some are in science, some are in politics, some are in philosophy but M-M is working as the betweenness central actor, the liaison, the bridge among these enlightened isolates, making a network of bounded norm who are visibly/invisibly fighting in favour of scientific minds. Thanks to this effort. 

One of my most favourite songs is Protul Mukhopadhyay�s �Jete habe bahudure�. In the last five years M-M has started their initial journey with much promise and hope they  have their perfect vision of going a far with the spirit of Bangla, with the spirit of youth.  

Congratulations to all the M-M family members at its 5th anniversary.

Sabaike selam

Kaberi Gayen

Edinburgh, 25th May 2006