The Annual Inter-Collegiate English Declamation Contest 2012 was held at the Government Postgraduate College for Women, Satellite Town.
The topics for the declamation were: ‘Why are there no more Quaid-i-Azams?’ for the serious speech category and ‘Networking or Houseworking’ for humorous speech. The function was presided over by National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Rector and Director Prof and the Pakistan Confucius Institute President, Dr Aziz Ahmed Khan.
Besides having many research publications and four books to his credit, he has supervised many PhD students on national and international levels. He has been awarded the Order of Academic Excellence and Sitara-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, the Medal of Honour by the Government of Poland and Palmes Academiques by the government of France.
Including the host college, fifteen colleges from the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad participated in the contest. The bench of judges was comprised of Farzana Qadir from Viqar-un-Nisa College, Rawalpindi, Faisal Malik from NUML and Arshad Mehmood from Islamic International University Islamabad.
All the participants vibrantly expressed their views and presented solid arguments for not having the leaders like Quaid-e-Azam and how the woman of the modern age is more anxious about social networking rather than house work. The trophy for the contest was won by Bilquees College of Education, Pakistan Air Force Chaklala, Rawalpindi as their two participants Syeda Anum Aftab and Munaza Sadaf secured the first and second position respectively.
Azka Farooq from Islamabad Model College for Girls, F 7/2 and Sana Tariq from Viqar-un-Nisa College, Rawalpindi stood third. Fourth prize was bagged by Mariam Tariq from Government degree college, Dhok Mangtal Rawalpindi. While addressing the participants and the audience, the chief guest appreciated their efforts and tried to explain the topic ‘Why are there no more Quaid-e-Azams?’. He said the basic reason for not having the good leaders is that they as a nation are unable to distinguish between the heroes and the villains.
Quoting different examples from the life of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he highlighted the attributes of a good leader that in his view are integrity, sacrifice, intelligence and strength to work. While addressing the ladies present, he emphasised their role in the generation of strong leaders for Pakistan in future. He particularly highlighted the pivotal role of the teachers and considered them the leaders of present as they have to train the nation and have to direct the youth of the country. He concluded his address by saying: “The youth of Pakistan need to have firm faith; faith in themselves, their parents and teachers and above all faith in Allah.”
