Daily Times

LAHORE: The ‘All Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal Bilingual Declamation Contest’ kicked off on Monday at Government College University (GCU), where more than 150 orators from all over Pakistan are participating.

Students belonging to several renowned educational institutions, including Pakistan Air Force Academy, Risalpur, Kinnaird College, Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur, Government Degree College, Quetta, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), Cadet College, Larkana, University of Sargodha, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), University of the Punjab and others are participating in the contest.

On the first day of contest, around 101 orators presented their speeches in English as well as in Urdu. The serious topics that remained closely contested by the teams on the first day were ‘Truth lies in the contradiction’, ‘There can be no national unity for as long as there is class distinction’, ‘The native must realize that colonialism never gives anything away for nothing’ and ‘Democracy has become Europe’s euphemism for neo-liberal capitalism”.

In the humorous category, the participants enthralled the audience with their wit and humour, particularly on the topics ‘You don’t have the right to remain silent’, ‘I was made for another planet, ‘I got lost on the way’, and ‘So long as politicians speak for you, expect to sound stupid’. In the Urdu category, the youth punctuated their speeches with fiery verses of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Habib Jalib. “It’s not a presidential debate or any other political debate, but as far as content, confidence and clarity are concerned, the level is far above, and pertinent references to all the contemporary conflicts could not escape from the arguments, wit and humor of these best national orators,” said GCU Debating Society President Syed Raza Aftab Gillani.

GCUDS Patron and Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah on the occasion said, “We are thrilled with the performance of all of the debaters who have come from different parts of the country including Balochistan to participate in the prestigious competition.”

He said that the All Pakistan Allama Iqbal Bilingual Declamation Competition had been a regular annual feature of Government College Lahore since 1980. He said that this year GCU expects tough competition between both the English and Urdu orators. He announced that the best English speaker would be awarded with the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medal and a cash prize while the best Urdu speaker would receive the Dr Majeed Nizami Medal.

Former GCU principal, late Prof M A Khan, introduced Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medal with a donation of Rs 500,000 in 2007. The university’s debating society had initiated the Dr Majeed Nizami Medal in 2013 to pay tribute to the services of the eminent journalist and old ravian.