'The Pakistan round of 10th Dr Mahbub Ul Haq Memorial lnter-school Debate Competition' was held in Islamabad on Wednesday. The Mahbub Ul Haq Human Development Centre on behalf of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in India organised the debate. The Foundation is organising this debate at the Regional level with all the Saarc countries participating in the event.
The winning team from each of the Saarc countries will participate in the super finals to be held in Delhi. Participants made convincing arguments both for and against the motion. They cited examples from recent incidents such as Marriott bombing, the 2005 earthquake and the rehabilitation efforts in a post-disaster scenario and the bridge that collapsed one month after its inauguration in Karachi.
It was interesting to watch students moved by their surroundings and linking those incidents with corruption. A distinguished panel of judges comprised the Assistant Resident Representative of UNDP for Governance, Farhan Sabih, Executive Director of Centre for Peace and Development Initiative, Mukhtar Ahmad All and lecturer, Department of English at NUML, Shazia Rose.
Karachi Grammar School won the first position whereas Islamabad Convent School secured second place. Faruzan from Beacon-house School was selected as the best speaker for the motion whereas Sheza Alqera from Karachi Grammar School was selected as the best speaker against the motion. The Rector of FAST National University, Amir Muhammad while presiding over the event, commended the students for their arguments and debating skills.
The director of Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, Dr Sadia Malik said in her introductory remarks that Dr Haq was a great visionary, who brought about a revolution in the entire thinking of development by promoting people. She further stressed that it is important to keep his vision alive and there should be comprehensive efforts to empower the people of South Asia.