The motion for the third round is given below. Please note that the motion for the Grand Finals will be released tomorrow.
Round 3
The
Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting was recently held in Sri Lanka. The
CHOGM is a forum for heads of commonwealth governments (consisting of the
United Kingdom and former British colonies) to discuss common problems and
concerns.
The
recent CHOGM has been quite controversial in India, regarding the Prime
Minister’s attendance. Voices from several quarters of the Indian polity called
for the Prime Minister to boycott the CHOGM as a sign of protest against the
alleged atrocities on Tamils committed by the Sri Lankan government during the
final phases of the Sri Lankan civil war. Indeed, estimates for civilian fatalities, produced by the United Nations and human rights groups, range all the way from 20,000 to 1,47,000. There is no expert consensus on whether civilians were targeted on purpose, and, if so, when.
Others
had called for Dr. Manmohan Singh to attend the meeting as they believe a
boycott would antagonise Sri Lanka. They say that instead the Indian government
should increase engagement and build closer ties with the Sri Lankan
government. This would give India greater leverage and influence over Sri
Lanka, allowing it to push for reform, like the 13th Amendment to
the Sri Lankan Constitution that could better the lives
of Sri Lanka’s Tamils.
In the
end Manmohan Singh ended up being absent from the CHOGM.
The
motion for round 3 is -
This
House Regrets the Indian Prime Minister’s decision to not attend the CHOGM
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