Bikini-Clad Beauty Queen Backlash Reveals Deep-rooted Conservatism in Pakistani Society

I recently watched a video of a confident Pakistani woman, Roma Michael, dressed in a striking metallic gold bikini with matching gold gloves, walking the ramp at Miss Grand International 2024. “What a proud moment for Pakistan,” I thought. The journalist in me wanted to learn more about her, but as I was midway through my research, I came across news headlines revealing that she had deleted the video after facing a wave of backlash.

While it wasn’t surprising given the track record of conservative crowds in Pakistan, the intensity of the threats horrified me. Some people even feared for her safety, urging her not to come back to Pakistan and to seek asylum elsewhere.

Comments ranged from harsh judgments to outright threats. Some accused her of tarnishing Pakistan’s reputation and called for religious edicts (fatwas) against her. Others claimed that her family should punish her under Shariah (Islamic law), while some pointed out that although she is Pakistani, she isn’t Muslim, expressing their disdain with remarks like “Lanat beshumar” (countless curses). A few sarcastically remarked that if the runway were in Pakistan, religious extremists might have destroyed the venue with weapons.

The vitriol was so high that it made me wonder what Michael would have faced if she hadn’t deleted the video.

This is not the first time that a model representing Pakistan on the global stage has faced this level of criticism – we saw something similar in the case of Erica Robin when she dared to be the first Pakistani to ever grace the stage of Miss Universe in 2023. Her entry into the competition was deemed “shameful” by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, with then-caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar even ordering a probe into the matter.

So it wasn’t surprising to see the harsh criticism conservatives directed at a Christian minority model for wearing a bikini – a taboo outfit in Islamic Republic of Pakistan – in the Miss Grand International pageant, an annual global beauty contest known for promoting peace and opposing violence.