Karachi The FAST Universities Debating Championship 2011 started here on Saturday with youngsters expressing their views in its different categories.

Karachi The FAST Universities Debating Championship 2011 started here on Saturday with youngsters expressing their views in its different categories.

Addressing the opening ceremony, senior journalist and analyst Saleem Safi said that the young generation has to lead the country in future. “We have been listening to the slogans, witnessing political gatherings and listening to the leaders criticising others, but believe me this is not the way to progress,” he said.

Saleem Safi said that the developed nations have progressed only because of education, especially in the field of science and technology. “The USA has progressed not because of slogans, emotions and political gatherings but due to people like Steve Jobs,” he said.

He said that those who raise slogans are actually unable to do anything. The only way to progress is the quality education to explore abundance of resources that God has bestowed to this country. “There is no dearth of talent in the country. We have youngsters like Ali Moeen Nawazish and Babar Iqbal. All we need is the right track,” he said.

He said that the role models for youngsters should be people like Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan and Steve Jobs instead of politicians. “We need to think beyond emotions. We need to think for the mechanism that could lead our country to the way of progress,” he said.



FAST University Director Dr. Waseem Ikram said that the best thing about the championship is that it provides a platform where students from different academic institutions exchange their thoughts and ideas. “Co-curricular activities ultimately help students in their practical life as such activities help them in building leadership qualities and boost confidence in them,” he said.

Fast Universities Debating Championship President Obaidullah, while addressing on the occasion, said that the FUDC 2008 saw the formation of the FAST Debating Society (FDS). “The society has held three cross-country debating championships in 2008, 2009 and 2010, successfully as well as several Intra-FAST debating competitions. This event was largely attended by teams from renowned schools and universities of the twin cities as well as from Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi,” he said.

He said that through its yearly activities, the FUDC has proved itself to be unmatched in the debating arena in a short span of time. “The FAST Debating Society (FDS) is a student-run society at the National University of Computers and Emerging Sciences which introduced British Parliamentary Style simulations in Pakistan. Being a pioneer in the region, FAST Universities Debating Championship (FUDC) provides an excellent platform to showcase a highly formal style of debating,” he informed.

He said that the FDS organises several debating competitions on a yearly basis, including Intra-FAST Debating Championship and FUDC that invites debaters from universities and schools from all over Pakistan.

The final round and concluding ceremony of the championship would be held on Monday in which winners of all categories would be announced.The news.