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."
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal
RSS