Shah Jewena championship: Aga Khan, LGS lift English team trophies

The 8th annual Shah Jewana Debating Championship, 2011 comes to an end.

LAHORE: The 8th annual Shah Jewana Debating Championship, 2011 came to an end on Monday with the Lahore Grammar School (LGS), Johar Town, the winners among schools and Aga Khan University (AKU) the winners among the participating universities across the country.

Held at the at the University College of Lahore (UCL), Topics for the final round debates included the spot fixing controversy involving some Pakistani cricketers in 2010 and diplomacy around the case of an American citizen, Raymond Davis, who killed two Pakistani citizens last week in ‘self-defence.’

The day started with preparations of the school teams on the topic: ICC should not have banned three Pakistani cricketers before the final verdict from the tribunal was received.

Three teams from Aitchison College and one from LGS competed in the finals.

From Aitchison College, Belal Qasim, argued that, “If the suspected players were not suspended and later found guilty, all the games involving them would have been held questionable.”

Asad Khan from the LGS contented, “Until the players were proven guilty, they should not have been suspended, especially when the cricket boards lacked evidence and were depending upon unreliable sources.”A collective effort of four team members showed consistency on justifying their individual roles and won the argument, with Aitchison College as runner ups of the event.

Saboor Karamat, one of the adjudicators, said, “After judging the line of arguments of both sides I gave LGS points on their argument that justice cannot be served before trial. They had a valid defence and communicated properly with the audience.” He said that the LGS team defended their position well. He praised them for their ‘general knowledge’ and ‘confidence.’

The final debate among the universities was a contest between three teams from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and one from the AKU.

The topic was: Granting diplomatic immunity to Raymond Davis.

Participants from LUMS argued over Davis’s trial in Pakistan. They said, “Under the law, he is a prisoner of Pakistan. His trial should be held in Pakistan. The US government would never let a foreigner accused of murder go. Why should we?”

The AKU participants said, “We have an ideal tool for bargain. We should ask for Dr Afia Siddiqi’s release in exchange of Raymond Davis. This should be proposed to get the most out of this traumatic episode.” The AKU were judged winners.

Dr Sayyed Asad Hussain, UCL director and chief guest at the event, appreciated both the teams and applauded the speakers. “They made the listeners feel like a ping-pong ball getting swayed by their arguments.” The best speaker’s award was presented to Zaib Aziz from LUMS.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st,  2011.