Bikini queen shows modern Pakistan (Reuters) Updated: 2006-09-10 16:20 MUMBAI - A prize-winning bikini competition
contestant who claimed to represent Pakistan, sparking some outrage in the
Muslim country, says she wanted to project the nation as a modern one.
Officials in Pakistan, which does not hold beauty pageants, said Thursday
they were investigating how Texas-based Mariyah Moten, 22, entered a "Miss
Bikini" pageant in China last month as a Pakistani contestant.
Pakistan-born Moten, who holds an American passport, won a "Best in Media"
title for being the most photographed and interviewed contestant, media reports
said.
"I have broken all the barriers, and in the coming years there will be other
Pakistani contestants who will carry this title," Moten, described by Pakistani
media as the country's first bikini queen, told the Times of India newspaper.
"My intention was to project Pakistan in a very modern way."
Moten was born and brought up in the Pakistani city of Karachi. Her family
moved to the United States eight years ago and she is now based in Houston.
Pakistani authorities said they might take up the issue with China, and might
also withdraw from Moten privileges offered to people of Pakistani descent such
as visa-free travel to Pakistan.
Moten, who said she might consider a career in the Pakistani film industry,
was undeterred by the criticism.
"The hardliners are basically people who impose their thoughts on others, and
we are not affected by people like them.
"It is actually very amusing how they are always so ready to react," the
daily quoted her as saying.
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