Organizers have disqualified a woman from a beauty pageant in Tokyo after Pakistani officials objected to her representing the country, saying participation in the contest denigrated Islam and brought shame to Pakistan. Pakistani authorities told contest officials to prohibit Neelum Noorani from participating in the Miss International competition scheduled to start Monday, Pakistan's Culture Secretary Tariq Janjua told The Associated Press news service. Janjua said the 21-year-old woman had falsely identified herself as Miss Pakistan. Beauty pageants are prohibited in Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim country that's absolutely lacking a sense of humor. In Tokyo, a spokesman for the International Culture Association hosting the competition said he was unaware that Pakistan had not formally offered a candidate and assumed her candidacy was valid until they were contacted by Pakistani officials.
She just figured, as long as no one else in Pakistan was pretty, she'd do it... |