The Villagers Reviving India’s Debating Traditions
By Amrit Dhillon, originally published by The Guardian.
The setting for perhaps the country’s biggest exercise in public debate was quintessential rural India: fields of green paddy, a pond, a temple. On a normal day, as dusk falls in the village of Ajgara, in Uttar Pradesh, people gather beside the pond to chat about the price of crops, the weather, or the theft of a goat.
But for more than a month, metaphysics and ethical dilemmas replaced the usual topics. Is it permissible to use deceit to defeat an evil enemy? Is a lie justified to save a life? What is the nature of reality?
The debating tournament was the brainchild of Abhishek Pandey, district magistrate of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. When he took up the post two years ago, he knew the area was rich in archaeological treasures connected to the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata.
Throughout the text, Yudhishthira, one of the central characters, debates the nature of human existence. In Ajgara he answers a string of philosophical questions to save the lives of his four brothers.
Pandey, 35, like most Indians, grew up on this story and was proud of the intellectual depth of the dialogues. When he attended Oxford University on a fellowship, he admired the debating society, which has a 200-year-long history. But India’s tradition of sophisticated public debate is much older, going back more than 3,000 years.
Pandey started to question why the tradition had not survived. “Indians have celebrated certain traditions for centuries,” Pandey says. “Why have we ceased to celebrate the legacy of debate and questioning?” Was it possible to revive this noble tradition, particularly when it was a vital component of a democracy?
He decided that the annual fair held in Ajgara in September would be a good place to try. In the run-up to the fair, Pandey and his team arranged 1,500 debates across the district.
Age and education were no bar. The youngest participant was a 10-year-old schoolboy, the oldest an 80-year-old farmer. In debating for and against a motion, participants were judged on reasoning and moral clarity.
The overwhelming public response dumbfounded Pandey. Thousands of people participated in multiple rounds, and were whittled down to eight finalists – two women and six men.
While villagers milled around, enjoying the food, watching folk theatre, buying local crafts and taking a ride on a ferris wheel, a silence descended inside the debating tent.
The finale of the Great Ajgara Debate 2026 on 17 September lasted about six hours.
This article was originally published by The Guardian and is partially reproduced here without the permission of the author, who is not affiliated with this website or its views.
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