Rashmeka Banerjee and Paras Gala from IIM Calcutta emerged as winners at the Inter-University Annual Debate Competition organised jointly by Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata and Victoria Memorial. While Rashmeka spoke in favor, Paras presented opinions against the motion at this year's debate which was themed around 'Social Media Is The New Courtroom For Justice'.
Arpit Agarwal, Paras Gala, Rashmeka Banerjee and Utkarsh Thakur represented IIM Calcutta among the other seven teams from various educational institutions of Eastern India. The winners from IIM Calcutta have been awarded a 2-month internship with the Observer Research Foundation.
Some of the eminent speakers at the event were Nadira Patherya, Former Judge Supreme Court of India, High Court at Kolkata, Odisha, Patna and Jharkhand; Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director, British Council, East and North East India; Nilanjan Ghosh, Director, ORF, Kolkata and Jayanta Sengupta, Secretary and Curator, Victoria Memorial Hall.
Speaking on the side-lines of the event, Paras Gala, a Doctoral Student from IIM Calcutta said, "Social Media, by the very nature of the way its algorithms function, tends to trap the users in filter bubbles and echo chambers that further create even more polarization."
"It's social media that will deliver justice to the LGBTQ community because, despite the Supreme Court decriminalizing article 377, it is movements, videos and posts on social media that will bring long overdue social acceptance," said Rashmeka Banerjee, post-graduate programme student from IIM Calcutta.
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