DebSoc, DPS RK Puram
A debating workshop was organised by the English Debating Society (DebSoc) of Delhi Public School RK Puram for the students of Class XII. The workshop was conducted by Areeb Nabi, Anjali Kedia and Manhar Bansal (Class XII, Batch of 2021) with the help of the club members.
The event began with a short presentation on debating in general. It consisted of broad principles underlying good debating and a short brief on the Asian Parliamentary Format. Questions and concerns were entertained from the audience. This was followed by a Model Parliamentary Debate on the motion – “This House believes that nationalism is a redundant concept.”
The two teams comprised – Mridul Malani (XII M), Vir Malhotra (XII I) and Arsh Mir (XII L) on side government and Dhun Paliwal (XIIA), Alyssa Nagrath (XII S) and Drona Sharma (XII V) on side opposition.
It was an extremely engaging and insightful debate involving nuanced arguments and befitting rebuttals put forward by both the teams. While side government argued that nationalism is a parochial concept which leads to wars and hinders globalisation, side opposition contended that nationalism was necessary for a sense of identity and belongingness.
Finally, the side government emerged victorious with a 2-1 verdict in their favour. The adjudicators provided feedback to both the teams, elucidating the reasons behind their respective decisions. An audience vote was also carried out to get an idea about the opinion of the House. The audience voted in favour of the government.
This marked the end of the workshop, following which some resources were shared with the participants to set them off on their journey towards thinking critically, formulating arguments and articulating them clearly – in short, debating.
