How a village in Uttar Pradesh revived India’s lost art of public debate

As political discourse in the country is increasingly suppressed and polarised, in a village tent, a local magistrate’s attempt to bring back a national tradition attracted thousands of participants 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? Continue reading...