Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Aug. 17: Students from colleges in Nagaland converged at the Don Bosco Higher Secondary School campus on Sat. Aug. 17 in Dimapur for the preliminary rounds of The Morung Debate.
The Morung Debate was organised by English newspaper The Morung Express. The event saw eight teams debating to find a spot in the quarterfinals that are to be conducted on Aug. 24.
From a total of four matches, the first match was between Contrarians and Groundbreakers who debated on the topic ‘Is technology a blessing?’ The second match was between Japfu Christian College and The Patriots on the topic ‘Should Social Media be controlled by the state?’
The third match was between Prove Us Wrong and Modest Rebuttals on the topic ‘Should Religion mix with politics?’ The fourth match was between Free Thinkers and Critical Thinkers on the topic ‘Is democracy the tyranny of the majority?’
Is technology a blessing?
For the motion, the Contrarians argued that technology has helped in reducing the use of paper while digital learning has facilitated education besides saving time. Technology is not causing harm to the environment—it is the people and their selfish nature that is putting the environment at risk.
Against the motion, the Groundbreakers argued that technology was a curse; it us not facilitating the progress of the society. It us through the human mind and knowledge that society is progressing, they argued. “Even before the invasion of technology man was capable of using their intelligence,” the team stated. Education can bring progress without technology, they stated.
Should Social Media be controlled by the state?
For the motion, team Japfu Christian College said social media controls people’s life now. The govt. should control social media to reduce untoward interactions and incidents, the team stated. Controlling social media can be an advantage as the state ‘works for the good of the people’ and that Freedom of Speech and Expression cannot be used to harm individuals or the society.
However, The Patriots argued that the state controlling such platforms was unfavourable. It invades the privacy of the people, they argued. The govt. should be acting as a regulator; it is not necessary for the govt. to control when there are ways to control and remove contents, in fact, it stated.
‘Social media,’ they argued, was for the private entity and does not give right to the govt. to control an entity created by an individual, they stated.
Should religion mix with politics?
For the motion, Prove Us Wrong said both religion and politics directly govern our lives. A truthful and faithful govt. can lead the state only if religion is involved. Every religion teaches love and respect; religion governs a person’s character, the team argued.
Religion existed since the creation of man, and to clear the ‘dirt of politics’ the involvement of religion is required, they stated.
Modest Rebuttals responded by stating that politics and religion were diverse from each other; both are ‘manmade.’ Religion should be enforced as it has monopolised politics, the team stated. In India, people live in fear because of the religious fanatics; religion creates extremism when it is mixed with politics, the team stated.
For the motion, Free Thinkers stated that democracy was based on the will of the people expressed through free and fair elections. Democracy gives people the right to question and correct a govt. A democratic country has resulted in producing a better country. The team also broached the issues of intolerance in the country and the Freedom of Press being curtailed and reports of attack on the media in a democratic country.
The Critical Thinkers argued back by stating that there were no facts on religious intolerance and that attacks were between individuals. These are not because of democratic advantages as democracy has played crucial role in people’s life and helping people to be free.
The teams that are through to the quarter final are Groundbreakers, The Patriots, Prove Us Wrong, and Free Thinkers.
