Miss Pakistan World

Miss Pakistan World
Motto	Celebrate the woman in you!
Formation	2002
Type	Beauty Pageant
Headquarters	Toronto
Location	Canada
Official languages	English, Urdu
President	Sonia Ahmed
Website	Mrs. Pakistan Official website

Miss Pakistan World is a beauty pageant held in Mississauga, Ontario. Its contestants are women with mostly Pakistani heritage from Pakistan, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The winner represents Pakistan in Miss Earth pageant and other events.^[1]

The winners of Miss Pakistan World 2011 looking at audience.

History

Founded in 2002 by Toronto entrepreneur Sonia Ahmed, and in its first year called "Miss Canada Pakistan", the contest is held in Canada because beauty pageants are highly controversial in Pakistan and if it were held there, security for contestants would be too problematic.^[1] According to Ahmed, "Pakistan's slow changing movement to liberate its women forbids such events from taking place on its soil."^[2] The name of the pageant was changed to Miss Pakistan World, when contestants from around the world started applying for the title. It is the only pageant existing for Pakistani women.

Eligibility criteria

Sex:	Female (natural)
Age range:	18 to 29
Marital status:	Single
Height:	at least 5'7"
Skills:	speak English/Urdu, modeling experience or some experience
Additional attributes:	photogenic, good physique, good personality, good character, enthusiastic

Controversy

The pageant has been criticized by Pakistani feminist Amna Buttar of the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights, who wrote in an email to the New York Times:

"In Pakistan, we are trying to get basic rights for women: right to marry, right to divorce, equal opportunity for job and education, and issues like Miss Pakistan create problems for this movement. An average Pakistani young woman does not want to wear a bikini in public, and for her it is important to have equal opportunity and all focus should be on that, and not on a pageant where only the elite can participate."^[1]

The pageant also fell into some controversy when it was held in the month of Ramadan as well as when the floods effected Pakistan 3 weeks prior to the event.^[3][4] "^{[5] [6]}

Mrs. Pakistan World

In 2006 Mrs. Pakistan World, for married women, was created as a spin-off. Both the Miss Pakistan World and the Mrs. Pakistan World pageant were created on the basis of issues faced by women in Pakistan.

Winners

• 2003 – Zehra Sheerazi (Karachi, Sindh)
• 2004 – Batool Cheema (Gujrat, Punjab)
• 2005 – Naomi Zaman (Lahore, Punjab)
• 2006 – Sehr Mahmood (Karachi, Sindh)
• 2007 – Mahleej Sarkari (Bakhshapur, Baluchistan)
• 2008 - Natasha Paracha^[7] (Islamabad, Punjab)
• 2009 - Ayesha Gilani (Lahore, Punjab)
• 2010 - Annie Rupani (Karachi, Sindh)
• 2011 - Sanober Hussain (Lahore, Punjab)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Dominus, Susan, "Pakistan May Not Be Ready for Its Beauty Queen", New York Times, 18 December 2008, retrieved 13 January 2009
2. ^ msn.com, Islamabad beauty is new Miss Pakistan World, 3 June 2008, retrieved 13 January 2009
3. ^ Boston University Newspaper
4. ^ Toronto Star, The flood in Pakistan will not stop the pageant in Toronto, Published On Thu Aug 19 2010
5. ^ Globe and Mail, [1],Published on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010 10:30PM EDT
6. ^ Alia Waheed , The Guardian, "Miss Pakistan World pageant's timing causes dismay: Demands for Toronto beauty contest to be called off in light of humanitarian crisis brought by flooding in Pakistan", Thursday 19 August 2010 18.16 BST
7. ^ http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/20-Dec-2008/Our-women-are-strong--Miss-Pakistan-World

See also

• Sonia Ahmed
• Mrs. Pakistan World
• Mr. Pakistan World

External links

• Miss Pakistan World website
• I want to date Mush the hunk, India Times article about one of the pageant's winners
• Miss Pakistan 2009 comments on Sania & Shoaib Marriage, Times of India