Model UN debates bias in forces, gay rights

Nagpur: The second day of Indian International Model United Nations (IIMUN) organized at Jain International School (JIS) saw interesting topics being discussed by students on Saturday. Naitik Shah, director general of IIMUN, said, “Students had a great time on the penultimate day and we saw a healthy discussion on certain topics.” Over 300 students from Nagpur are participating in the IIMUN.
For the IIMUN, all students play the role of diplomats and are assigned a country. The student delegates were divided into nine committees which discussed topics that are currently being discussed at the global level as well. The meet was divided into three sessions on Saturday, and each saw an extremely interactive debate among students. Before the start of each session, the actual working of UN sessions was explained and discussed, many motions were presented and debated.
Mudita Tekriwal of JIS spoke on ‘discrimination of women in the armed forces’. Another student Harikesh Pratap Singh representing Russia spoke on homosexuality being legal in Russia but not promoting homosexual marriage. To make the discussion even more lively, other student delegates raised counterpoints. Student delegates from Canada and Russian challenged his point. Student Romin Mathur, representing France, spoke on LGBT rights.
The committee saw the most lively discussion on the Security Council. Student delegates Rishi Kumar and Nayan Kharkar representing India, proposed India’s name for a permanent seat and to be given veto power. Delegates from Russia, Manya Joshi and Avni Tambi opposed it arguing that India could not fund Security Council sufficiently. The delegates from Centre Point School (all three branches), Bhavans (Ashti and Srikrishna Nagar) and Modern School were some of the participants who spoke “fervently on their topics”, according to a media release by JIS.
Students discussed other important issues like reduction in the nuclear stock pile, hydraulic franking, inspection of spot fixing in Indian Premier League, development of Australia and Nigeria’s space programmes and review of different quotas.
IIMUN will conclude on Sunday with students taking up other topics and going ahead with discussions that could not be completed on Saturday. The IIMUN is an organization managed completely by youth below the age of 26, led by its founder Rishabh Shah.
TOI reported on Saturday how Shah is spearheading a movement to create awareness about the need for India to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council. CM Devendra Fadnavis has expressed his support to the cause and promised IIMUN that he will participate in their proposed rally in Mumbai in April.