By Gurmukh Singh, IANS
Toronto : For the Pakistanis devastated by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last week, there is now some cheer. San Francisco-based Saman Hasnain is the new Mrs Pakistan World 2008.
The pageant, which is into its second year, was organized by Toronto-based Miss Canada Pakistan Inc. that has also been running Miss Pakistan World for Pakistan-origin girls worldwide since 2002. Hasnain, the 37-year-old mother of two and real estate agent by profession, was short-listed for the competition and crowned Mrs Pakistan World by voters online.
She will now represent Pakistan in Mrs World 2008 and Mrs Globe 2008 pageants.
Hasnain said: “In my role, I would like to change the world’s perception of Pakistani women. I hope to act as a role model, and encourage, educate and motivate Pakistani women to help achieve a strong and progressive Pakistan.”
She said she would also expand her charitable work in Pakistan where she has already built a school for 1,000 children and worked with an NGO Development in Literacy.
Miss Pakistan and Mrs Pakistan organizer Sonia Ahmed told IANS: “The assassination of Benazir, who was the voice of modern Pakistani women, is a blow to us. But we want to show the world that Pakistani women have a global voice and a desire to progress.”
Hasnain’s crowning, she said, was another step by modern Pakistani women to have a voice on the international stage.
“Pakistani women are not what they are projected in the media. They are modern, progressive women who want to live an independent life,” she said.
Since Pakistan does not allow beauty pageants for religious reasons, Sonia said: “Liberal Pakistan-origin women have a platform in Canada to tell the world that they are among the most beautiful women in the world. We have a terrific response. Even hijab-clad girls and women apply for Miss Pakistan and Mrs Pakistan. But we reject them”
Bikini parades, she said, are a must for those seeking to contest for Miss Pakistan, which is held some time in the middle of the year in Toronto.
“We are making Mrs Pakistan a big pageant on the lines of Miss Pakistan. Right now, Mrs Pakistan contestants send us their photo portfolios. We hold phone interviews with them, quiz them and then shortlist them. Those short-listed vie for Mrs Pakistan as people vote online for them.”
Interestingly, Toronto, where the beauty pageant is based, was recently shocked when a Pakistani Canadian strangled to death his 16-year-old daughter, Aqsa Parvez, for refusing to wear a hijab.