pro-Shia Muslim television channel warned this month that the event would "corrupt public morals and create a base culture while our people face the danger of terrorism”, reported The Guardian.
Senan Kamel, the pageant’s spokesman and one of its judges, said that they had tried to adapt the contest with respect for conservative Muslim values, but needed to abide by certain standards in order to qualify for participation at the international level. More conservative outfits have replaced the swimsuits but a ban on Islamic headscarves remains, in keeping with the protocol of western pageants.
“We deliberately organised the competition according to standards appropriate to Iraqi society to prove to the world that Iraq is a civilised country with a civic soul and a spirit of life,” he said. The organizers hope to field 10 finalists to competitions in Egypt and Thailand. Those finalists will receive training in etiquette and public speaking and will volunteer to help some of the 3 million Iraqis displaced by the conflict.
The fifty initial applicants hail from across Iraq, including the Daesh-seized town of Mosul. Many are undeterred by the controversy, supported by members of the public. “We are glad to see more things like this. We Iraqis have been deprived of many things. Many young people are migrating. People are not comfortable here,” said Ali, a 21-year-old soldier. “These are people who do not want Iraq to do well, to improve. These people want to go backwards.”
“God willing, I will try to ignore [the criticism] because it is an honour to represent my country,” she told The Guardian at the studios of Al Mada television station, which is hosting the pageant.
Photo: Mahmud Raouf/Al-Mada Newspaper
Another contestant, Hamsa Khalid, an 18-year-old high school student, said the hostility would not stop her from participating, saying the message she hoped to deliver as Miss Iraq could be summed up in one word: “Peace”.
While some local social clubs have hosted occasional contests, Iraq last participated in a major international beauty pageant in 1972 with Wijdan Burhan al-Deen representing the country at the Miss Universe contest.
Kamel denies that the contest was undermining traditional values. On the contrary, he believes it can help revitalise Iraq’s once-vibrant cultural scene.“We are searching for a personality to represent Iraq, a woman to be a real ambassador,” he told The Guardian.
