There were speeches, arguments, a kidnapping and even an execution at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan recently, although the last two were only staged. The school was hosting a model United Nations meet, titled Bhavmun, and 230 delegates from across city schools and colleges had divided themselves into councils to tackle various world affairs. 

The most eventful council was the one named “Islamic Caliphate”, where students played out a dystopia set in the year 2020. “This is a world where our organisation has already taken over west Asia and is now targeting Kashmir,” said Roopkatha Banerjee, an English student from Jadavpur University who assumed the role of the caliph. 

Anurag Nimonkar of Lashkar-e-Taiba (actually St. Xaviers) then betrayed the Caliphate and got some of their members kidnapped. Because of this, Akansha Kashyap of the caliphate (actually DPS New Town), executed him, using a toy gun. “This was just an act. The one I’d really like to execute here is Kanishk Gomes, who plays the defence minister of the caliphate. He’s a big know-it-all!” she mocked, making Kanishk laugh.  

“Those of us who participated in the Islamic Caliphate did it to find out their side of the story,” said Kanishk. “I think the caliphate picks the most violent interpretation of holy verses to justify their own means.”

Dropping into their meetings was Oishik Dasgupta of St. James who played Dawood Ibrahim. “I have nothing to do with taking over the world. I’m only in this for money. I’m looking for business opportunities,” he said, looking through aviator sunglasses that the real don is often photographed in.   

“Don’t worry, we’ll bump off Dawood shortly for meddling in our affairs,” said Ayush Banerjee, who played the vizier of the caliphate. 

Closer to home 

The school’s conference room was hosting meetings of the national security council of India, with spokespersons from the foreign intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing, the army and the home ministry. The talking point was army atrocities in Kashmir. 

“The law must be changed,” said Indrajeet Banerjee, a law student from Calcutta University, who played the advisor to the security council. “The existing laws use ambiguous words that get exploited. For instance, the army can pick up people based on ‘suspicion’ of foul play. It has been found that people settle personal scores by complaining to the army about anyone they feel like.”

To this the army representative, Akif Ul Islam, an engineering student from JU, said: “I agree that there are loopholes in the law but weakening it would weaken the army.”

The air in the auditorium was heavy with representatives of different countries debating on world economics. “Some are proposing a bailout for Greece, others want Greece out of the European Union. And China has proposed a liberalisation of its banking policies,” said Kashyap Harlalka, a student of Presidency University and moderator of the economic and financial committee. 

The face-off between the US and Russia was dramatic. Russia, through Raghav Kakkar of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, demanded a ban on nuclear weapons whereas the US, through Samar Singh of St. Xaviers’, opposed it vehemently. “Complete disarmament will never work because of a trust deficit among nations. Who will guarantee if North Korea will toe the line?” he asked.  The UK, through Shrijit Dasgupta of Calcutta International School, chose the middle path. “Let’s simply reduce nuclear arms worldwide,” he proposed.

Whenever the discussion got too heated, Treenok Guha of St James’ school and the vice-chairman of the disarmament and international security committee, would stand up on a chair in the middle of the hall and loudly count till 10. That surprised people so much that they stopped arguing. 

Planning it out 

There was also an “international press” association, members of which were sitting in on the discussions and taking notes. “We are trying to pick up the slip-ups. We shall post them on Facebook later,” said Nashitaa Abedin, the editor-in-chief. 

Their observations included how the caliphate room was almost as unruly as the Indian parliament, how a particular member turned up in a floral shirt despite the formal dress code and how representatives of two nations had been caught staring at one another while the rest of the room debated.  

“This three-day event took us three months to prepare,” said Richik Ghosh and Stuti Aastha, the secretary-general and his deputy. “Students planned everything from food and logistics to choosing the dates of the event so they wouldn’t clash with exams or holidays of any school.” They got help from their teachers Sriparna Mitra Sinha, Ketaki Hazra and Maitreyi De Sarkar.

Brinda Sarkar