Assembly of Nations: BESC’s flagship event for MUNers.

The Bhawanipur Education Society College boasts a congregation of like-minded students who indulge in constructive and intellectual debating through the BESC Assembly of Nations (AON) platform. The BESC AON is one of the college’s collectives having the culture of nurturing the art of debating through a simulation of the Model United Nations. This year was the 7th edition of this conference with the theme being “Delegate to Deliberate”. Beginning on the 4th of April 2024 (Day 0) and having concluded on the 7th of April 2024 (Day 3), AON had a count of more than 320 student participants of MUN circuits from around the country who participated in 8 different committees. This year, BESC AON collaborated with 22 institutions and made them a part of this conference with 8 different committees in 8 different locations within the college campus.

The opening ceremony was a befitting occasion to kick off the conference, beginning at 2:30 P.M., the Jubilee Hall, packed with an audience composed of delegates and parents of Executive Board (EB) members awaiting to witness the event proceedings. The Chief guests for this exclusive event were Major General BK Sharma, (Retd.) Director General of United Service Institution (USI) of India; and Major General PK Goswami, Deputy Director General of United Service Institution (USI) of India and Director USI UN Cell. After an opening note was delivered by BESC AON USG Committee Secretary, Simanti Chakraborty, followed by the Eastern dance performed by the Flames collective which put on a performance named “Ardhanarishwara ”. This was followed by the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah who acknowledged the delegates and thanked them for their active participation, especially the ones who travelled from different cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Jamshedpur. Prof. Shah mentioned his own experiences regarding BESC AON while commenting on how MUN-ing provides immersive learning to the students studying under the New Education Policy, making them more diplomatic. He ended his address by saying he feels elated when he sees delegates deliberate & yet socialize later in the day.

The next address was by Major General BK Sharma who congratulated BESC for its achievements and presented a bird’s eye view of the current Global geopolitical situation through a presentation that gave the students in-depth ideas for research on the global geopolitical scene. Next in line was Major General PK Goswami who was felicitated by Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi, Co-Ordinator of the Department of Commerce (Morning). He presented a video tour of the campus of the United Service Institution of India to throw light on the historical perspective of the USI & how it sparked student’s interest in geopolitics to make future diplomats who eventually serve their country. Lined up next was a Special address by Prof. Dilip Shah who welcomed the Guest of Honor for the inauguration ceremony; Ms. Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Ms Gerards revealed how happy she was to see a new generation of debaters and spoke about her career in esteemed Institutions like the UN and NATO including her present time spent in India. She imparted knowledge regarding five aspects that help people become diplomats one of them being Emotional Intelligence & listening skills.

After all the speeches, the investiture of members of the Officers In Charge (OIC), Under Secretary Generals (USG), the Chief Of Staff, Deputy Secretary General, and Secretary General was carried out by Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi, Ms. Samiksha Khanduri & Prof. Dilip Shah, respectively. Succeeding this was Secretary-General Sofia Parveen’s address to the audience wherein she welcomed the EB’s and delegates present in the ceremony while thanking them for their participation for the next three days of the conference and thereby declaring the BESC AON 2024 open. The opening ceremony ended around 5:00 P.M. with which the general committee briefings were carried out by their respective EB members within an hour.

As political turmoil in the 21st century has become a recurring topic of discussion, AON drew inspiration from it and incorporated ‘Agendas’ in its 8 committees, all of which inspired participants to debate on global issues. The 8 committees had eight unique journeys in the next 4 Days, each deliberating on a different agenda of global concern. Committees included were UNSC – The United Nations Security Council discussing the agenda of “The situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian question.” After debating for 3 Days, the delegates that received the Best Delegate award were the USA; a High Commendation going to the delegates of the Russian Federation; and Special Mentions for delegates of Syria, and Israel. UNGA SPECPOL, the United Nations General Assembly Special Political and Decolonization Committee strives to achieve peace through decolonisation in areas with territorial disputes. The agenda here was “Agenda item 50: Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories. The committee consisted of formal-informal sessions with rigorous debates on the Israel-Palestine conflict and delegates of different countries cross-questioning each other’s position in the conflict.

The third committee included, UNHRC had 43 member states called the Human Rights Council of the United Nations which stands between the oppressors and the oppressed in any country. The agenda on their plate was “Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories”. Delegates also undertook to mention statistics like two million civilians displaced, schools being shut, and the unnecessary foreign and Western involvement which adds fuel to Israel’s tryst of capturing Gaza; for the recurrent supply of funds from countries like the UK or the USA. The fourth committee was UNCSW which keeps gender equality and women’s rights foremost, dedicating its agenda to eradicating discrimination and uplifting women’s status.

Yet another important committee was IP – The International Press which propagates world news through its bold and just articles that contain explicit details on any matter backed up by descriptive photographs. Spread out across 8 different committees, the IP journalists had a goal of noting down the happenings of their assigned committees and presenting a “beat” article at the end of the day. Another committee was LOK SABHA – The “House of People” under which 63 delegates took part and posed as real-life leaders of both ruling and opposition parties in the Lok Sabha committee had the agenda to “ Review India’s approach to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)” and to make out a “Comprehensive review of Places of Worship Act (1991) concerning contested religious sites”. Several ‘Zero Hours’ where delegates from the ruling party present their opening speeches and receive a question from the opposition; were carried out regarding the agenda. The 3-day discussions ended with delegates representing Sashi Tharoor, pr Natarajan, S Jayshankar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Gandhi and many more.

The second last committee was UND- The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs aiming at circumvention of conflicts and providing support to UN peacekeeping missions in areas of conflict. Being a very rare committee in the Kolkata MUN circuit, the flagship committee UNDPPA of the BESC AON consisted of 10 delegates, all of whom represented offices of different institutions of the DPPA. Here the agenda presented was a “Review of current missions to prepare the 2024 roadmap for peace”. The last of all was the WORLD BANK committee dedicated to providing financial and technical assistance to developing and underdeveloped countries, with 33 participating delegates whose agenda of discussion was “Review of Development Policy Financing (DPF) and maintenance of adequate macroeconomic policy framework”.

On the 7th of April, when all 8 committees concluded in their venues, the delegates poured into the Jubilee Hall for a guest performance by Mr Rajat Chauhan, a Delhi-based stand-up comedian who provided comic relief to the audience before the Valedictory ceremony. At 6:00 P.M. with the Valedictory Ceremony where EB members of each committee were asked to take the stage and proceeded to call upon the winning delegates. Towards the end, closing words were given by the Chief Of Staff, Daivam Nishanth; Deputy Secretary-General, Abhishek Shaw and Secretary-General, Sofia Parveen. As all 3 of them struck the gavel, BESC AON 2024 was officially concluded. The valedictory ceremony gave way to the Ballroom evening, which was for Volunteers, delegates, and EB members only. A gala dinner was also organized by team AON, which concluded yet another successful event, paving the way for AON 8th edition to be held in 2025.

Reporter – Aniket Dasgupta