St. Mira's College For Girls, Pune

The Annual Sadhu Vaswani Debate Competition 2022-23

The Annual Sadhu Vaswani Inter College Debate Competition was held at St. Mira's College for Girls on 16th February 2023. This year’s competition was very special as the college is celebrating its diamond jubilee of 60 glorious years. The event featured competitors from colleges across Pune on the topic, Freedom of Speech should include the right to critique religions and faiths.

The event began with the Principal Dr. Jaya Rajagopalan, Director Dr. Gulshan Gidwani, and Judges- Zia Chaney and Preeti Singh lighting the lamp. A list of rules was read out considering the topic of the debate required thoughtfulness and sensitivity. The debate officially began after that.

The competition had 24 participants from 12 colleges demonstrating their hard work and skill. Winners in the For category were Ariya Chauhan from Ness Wadia College of Commerce as Best Speaker and Jillian Chithelen from St. Mira’s College as the Runner up Speaker. Winners in the Against category were Adi Hariyani from Christ College as Best Speaker and Atharva Gaikwad from Modern Law College as the Runner up Speaker They delivered outstanding performances, and their arguments and counterarguments deserved the winning position. St. Mira’s College with Ummesalama Karu and Jillian Chithelen were awarded the Best Team Trophy; and St. Vincent’s College with Asma Rogankar and Sushmita, the Runner-up Team Trophy.

The tireless and wholehearted efforts of the core team with Tanaya Patil, Sharvari Kurundwad and Kanchanpriya B along with volunteer student members of the Debate Club, under the guidance of Ms. Suhaile Azavedo and the English Department, ensured that the competition was a resounding success. The audience, winners and participants had a wonderful time; we anticipate another successful competition next year.