Debate festival at Notre Dame College ends

Notre Dame Debating Club (NDDC) is regarded as the father of debate in Bangladesh, and thus, the 27th installment of the NDDC Nationals was a huge blip on the calendar for all debaters in the circuit. NDDC held their premier event from the 7th of January to the 23rd of January this year, and debaters from all levels of the sphere joined in for this extravaganza.

The tournament kicked off on the 7th with a workshop reflecting the theme on the tournament, which for this year, was 'Revolution and Conflict.' The Inter Club Bangla phase began from the 8th with the participation of 20 teams and went on for 2 days, and at the end of team GOD-1, consisting of Sakib Bin Rashid, Yasin Shafi and Nahian Bin Khaled from Dhaka University emerged as winners. The runner-up team was JUDS-1 consisting of Ehsanur Rahman Abir, Ethar Adib Rahman and Mahbubul Islam Shaikat, all from Jahangirnagar University. Bitto Faiyaz from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was awarded as the best speaker of the tournament.

Next on the agenda was the Inter Club English phase of the competition, which took place from the 15th to the 16th of January. It was a good turnout with 24 teams made up of some of the best debaters this country has to offer. The champion from this phase was Team Josephites, which consisted of Sakib Bin Rashid and Sheikh Rifayet Daiyan Srijon. They beat Team PK, consisting of Rawnak Zaheen Wasi and Mashiat Rabbani to clinch the winners' trophy. However, Team MGF's Aaquib Farhan Hossain took home the title of the best speaker of the tournament.

The Inter School Bangla debate began on the 21st of January and ended on the 24th of January. With 22 teams, this was an affair equally competitive as the ones before, if not more. The final was held on the T-Format aunique format introduced and nurtured by Notre Dame College only. The winning team in the Inter School Bangla category was GDC. The team that was second best on the day of the final was DCL. Shompod from IDC-1 was given the prize of the best speaker of the tournament.

Sakib Bin Rashid, winner in 2 categories, spoke fondly of the tournament and the proceedings. "It's always a pleasure to debate here at Notre Dame College. NDDC is the pinnacle of what debate stands for in Bangladesh, and to debate in an NDDC event is a privilege, let alone winning trophies. The Prime Bank 27th NDDC Nationals has really set the bar high for everyone else to follow for a terrific event, hopefully others can come close what has been achieved by this club," he said.

The prize giving ceremony took place on the 23rd January, and the participants were lucky to be in esteemed company of special guest, Md. Golam Rabbani. Chief Moderator of the club Shahidul Islam Pathan and the principle of Notre Dame College, Father Hemonto Piush Rozario were present throughout and expressed their satisfaction at what went down. At the very end, everyone was entertained with the enthralling music of 'Shironamhin', bringing a fitting end to a colossally fascinating event.

The writer is a second year student of Notre Dame College and member of NDDC-GOLD,

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