LAHORE, Nov 2: The 31st All Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal Bilingual Declamation Contest kicked off on Wednesday at the Government College University with fiery speeches of best orators from all over the country.

Teams from as many as 50 educational institutions, including UET, Atchison College, FAST, LUMS, FCC University, Punjab University, Bahauddin Zikaria University Multan, King Edward Medical University, LCWU, LGS and PAF Academy Risalpur, are contesting for the coveted trophy and prestigious Benazir Bhutto Shaheed medal during the two-day event spread over eight rounds.

The serious topics that remained closely contested by teams were: “Build dams or be dammed”, “Let OIC be buried! It has been dead since long”, “The West’s hatred for the Islamic icons betrays their bigotry” and “Pakistans economic crisis is a political orchestration”. In the humorous category, the participants enthralled the audience with their wit and humour particularly on the topics: “Flatter or perish”, “The liars rule the roost”, “Politicians keep all the promises they intend to keep” and “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts”.

In Urdu category, the youth also presented their views in a manner that was reflective of our national dilemma and came up with imaginative remedies. They punctuated their speeches with fiery verses of Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Habib Jalib.

GCU Debating Society president Ali Zafar said that students had also come from small districts, including Dera Ismael Khan, Jhang, Bahawalpur and Jhelum, to rub shoulders with the intellectual elite of the Pakistani youth. “Each participant, irrespective of his socio-ethnic roots, put up a great show of talent and skills in the arena of public speaking on serious and humorous topics to mark his/her domination over others” he added.

Talking to reporters, judges of the declamation contest said that this year there was a very tough competition among English orators as the best English speaker would be awarded with the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed medal and a cash prize of Rs25,000. — Staff Reporter