Published: 23 September 2023
The biggest national-level anti-corruption debating competition of the year, hosted by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), was filled with the battle of minds and the buzz of arguments and counterarguments in every corner. TIB has successfully completed the three-day-long National Inter-University Anti-Corruption Debate Competition 2023. For the first time, the competition was held in a residential format at the CCDB Hope Centre from 21-23 September 2023.
Jahangirnagar University Debate Organisation (JUDO) has emerged as the champions of the exciting competition, narrowly putting Daffodil International University Debating Club (DIUDC) in the runner-up position. Yeasin Arafat Limon from Bangladesh University of Professionals Debate Club (BUPDC) was declared the best debater of the tournament, while Taposhi Dey Prapti was declared the best debater of the final round.
TIB believes that fact-based debates on policies and sociopolitical issues are important platforms in a functional democracy, and the rounds in this year’s competition focused on motions related to multiple narratives related to the anti-corruption movement.
Teams from debating clubs from across Bangladesh had participated in rounds that had motions on the role of media in curbing corruption, public awareness on Right to Information, failure of the central bank in controlling loan defaults, women’s empowerment in corruption mitigation, and citizens’ role in ensuring effective public service delivery.
The quarterfinal rounds debated whether civil society organisations are important functionaries in the anti-corruption movement, and the semis debated if democracy is the fundamental prerequisite for sustainable economic development. The motion of the final round was on whether an effective parliament is enough for curbing corruption.
While speaking at the award giving ceremony, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman reiterated that the youth, especially thinkers and speakers in the debating community, are important stakeholders in the fight against corruption and TIB has always supported them. “In the three-day-long competition, all participants were exposed to different experiences, which will improve their debating skills. We also believe that with debates focused on anti-corruption and good governance, debaters are now equipped with more arsenal to tackle corruption. We hope these youths will lead us in building a corruption-free society,” added Dr Iftekharuzzaman.
TIB plans to continue to host debating competitions as it is important for mentoring debaters with critical thinking, expanding perspectives, collecting and analysing information, and public participation in policy dialogues. While speaking to participants, TIB’s Director of Outreach and Communication, Sheikh Manjur-E-Alam, thanked all debaters and judges for their support in the competition and said, “We hope the debaters will continue to inspire us.”
Notably, teams from 32 universities participated in the competition along with 52 judges and one tab director. In total, the tournament had 87 rounds of debates.
