By By Our Correspondent
A TEAM of Pakistan Air Force Academy Risalpur was declared the best at the 29th All Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal Bilingual Declamation Contest 2009 which concluded at Government College University (GCU) Lahore on Tuesday.
Saad Sohail was declared the best English speaker and was awarded with Benazir Bhutto Medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.
The orators, hosted by GCU, delivered memorable speeches which were charged with chaste emotions and insightful and critical thoughts. They punctuated their speeches with fiery verses of Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahemd Faiz and Habib Jalib.
Barrister Kamal Azfar, former Governor of Sindh and a renowned scholar, was the guest of honour at the event while GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab was also present. GCU Debating Society president chaired the declamation contest.
As many as 36 teams of fiery and humorous orators competed for the coveted trophy. However, only teams from Pakistan Air Force Academy Risalpur, Military College of Signals, Rawalpindi, Punjab University Institute of Administrative Sciences and University College for Lahore qualified for the final round.
In the final, humour topics were “Iss Trahan Tu Hota Hai, Iss Tarhan Ka Kamon Main” and “Ya Solah Nahin Ho Sakti”.
However, English speakers delivered speeches on the topic of “When liberty is statue and justice is blind.”
GCU Debating team closed the house while they as host did not contest for the prizes.
Later, Barrister Kamal Azfar presented shields and prizes to the winners of the contest. Addressing the ceremony, Barrister Kamal lauded the knowledge of the orators, saying that they highlighted very important issues in their speeches.
He also gave special prizes to the best English and Urdu speakers. GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab presented a souvenir to the chief guest.