The University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, won the team trophy at the 46th All Pakistan Allama Iqbal Bilingual Declamation Contest, organised by the Government College Lahore Debating Society.

Around 50 teams from educational institutions across Pakistan participated in the two-day competition, which featured preliminary and final rounds in English and Urdu.

Punjab Inspector General of Police Rao Abdul Kareem attended the closing ceremony as chief guest and presented medals and shields to the winners. GC Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Omer Chaudhry was also present.

Abdur Rehman of the University of Central Punjab, Lahore, won the Dr Majid Nizami Medal for Best Urdu Speaker, while Eman Fatima Bajwa of Islam Medical and Dental College received the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medal for Best English Speaker.

Muhammad Saad of UET Lahore secured second position in English, while Muhammad Affan of GIKI finished second in Urdu. Bakhtawar of Sadiq Public School received the overall consolation prize.

Addressing the ceremony, Prof Chaudhry said educational institutions must nurture critical thinking and provide young people with opportunities to question, exchange ideas and express their views confidently.

“Unless we revive meaningful discourse in our society, encourage people to question and create an environment where ideas can be freely debated, we cannot achieve genuine social progress,” he said.

He described dialogue and freedom of thought as defining features of Government College’s intellectual tradition and said universities should encourage students to engage with differing perspectives.

The vice chancellor said members of the GC Debating Society had won 367 competitions during the previous year across declamation, Model United Nations and debate events.

GC Malik Muhammad Shamim Shahid and Aiman Fatima delivered the concluding speeches in English and Urdu, respectively. In keeping with the contest’s tradition, the host college team did not compete for medals.