Miss Afghanistan may have hit headlines for parading in a bikini in the name of a conservative Muslim country where most women wear head-to-toe burkas.
But in her homeland few even know what the title means, and even fewer have seen the pictures.
"What is Miss Afghanistan, can you explain?" asked a fruit vendor outside a mosque in bustling Kabul, the Afghan capital.
PHOTO: AFP
The crowds around his cart, piled high with ripe dates for breaking fast during the just-begun Muslim holy month Ramadan, were equally baffled.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Nasir Ahmed, 15.
Vida Samadzai, 26, a dark-eyed brunette of the Pashtun tribe who fled Afghanistan with her family in 1996, stepped out in a red bikini at an international beauty pageant in the Philippines at the weekend, professing to make the world aware of "Afghan women talent, intelligence and beauty."
She is the first Afghan woman in 30 years to participate in the Miss Earth contest. But she has incurred the wrath of the few Afghans who have seen her photos or read the international news stories.
"What this Afghan girl has done is not freedom but is lascivious," Women's Affairs Minister Habiba Surabi said.
Once the concept was explained, the men and boys embarking on the first day of their month-long fast in Kabul's bazaars were just as scornful.
"She is representing herself, not Afghanistan. It's her own idea," sneered Muhammad Yusuf, 26.
Abdul Rashid, 47, said it was too premature for Afghanistan, where 99 percent of its 28 million people follow a conservative code of Islam, to accept a semi-naked woman.
"Since we are a Muslim country to show up naked is not good," Rashid said.
In the city's beauty parlors, more bafflement: "What is a beauty contest?" asked Sita, 18, who works in Kabul's Waves of Beauty salon.
The extremist Taliban, whose rule Samadzai escaped in 1996, forced women to cover themselves from head to toe and prohibited them from attending schools, working outside their homes or stepping out without a close relative.
Nearly two years after their regime was toppled, competing in a bikini in a beauty contest remains taboo.
Under Afghan culture women should not demonstrate their worth through their "beauty or bodies" but by their skills and knowledge, minister Surabi said.
Womens' rights activist Soraya Parlika also condemned Samadzai for flaunting Afghan taboos by appearing "half-naked."
Parlika, who ran secret girls' schools under the Taliban's repressive reign, said bikinis were "forbidden not only in Islam but also in Afghan culture."
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS