'Dear Miss Pakistan the word is condemn, not condone'

Islamabad, Dec 16 (PTI) Pakistanis are poking fun at a beauty queen from the country who, in a recent interview, said she "condones" the Mumbai attacks.

Reigning Miss Pakistan World Natasha Paracha, a Berkley
graduate, said she "condoned" the Mumbai attacks not once, but
twice in an interview with CNN earlier this week.

"There are many silly, but well-meaning things she says
during this interview… For instance, that India and Pakistan
have for many years been both 'friends' and 'colleagues', and
that Natasha is somehow an ambassador 'to' Pakistan," wrote
blogger Kamil Yousuf.

The especially daft one was as follows: "The image of
Pakistan has been threatened with these recent attacks and I
feel that now as Pakistanis we have to stand up and condone
what has happened in the country of India and through these
Mumbai attacks."

Yousuf wrote that though Paracha's use of the word
"condone" appeared to be a slip of the tongue, she had used it
again in the same interview when she said: "as an ambassador
to my country Pakistan I feel that we as Pakistanis need to
work together and Indians as well need to work and work on
this friendship that we have and condone these attacks,
thoroughly.

In his post titled "Dear Miss Pakistan World, the word
is 'condemn', not 'condone'", Yousuf admitted that he did not
know Pakistan had a 'Miss Pakistan World' by the name of
Natasha Paracha or that she was the chairperson of Pakistani
affairs with the United Nations International Renewable Energy
Organisation.

"I was actually quite surprised on both counts…But
surely, if you were going to appear on CNN wearing a Miss
Pakistan sash, in order to give a statement on behalf of your
country in the midst of a political crisis, you would take the
time to learn the difference between two fairly critical
antonyms. You went to Berkeley, for God's sake," he wrote.

A blogger called hanginguppakistan.com. was however,
surprised that CNN chose to speak to a beauty queen about
politics. "How can you logically expect profound statements
from pageant girls who constantly regurgitate lines about
world peace?"

Paracha also said India and Pakistan had been
"colleagues" for many years.

When it was pointed out that India and Pakistan have
been enemies for decades and asked if there is any sympathy
for terrorists in her country, New York-based Paracha said, "I
wouldn't call India and Pakistan enemies...yes there has been
cross-border tension but India and Pakistan have been working
as friends and as colleagues for many years now…."

Asked how she would tackle terrorism, Paracha talked
about portraying Pakistani women as being strong.

On Prime Minister Gordon Brown's recent observation that
three-quarters of serious terror plots being investigated by
British authorities have links to Pakistan, she said: "These
are non-state actors."

"Pakistan has been working to fight terrorism for a few
years now… and as President Zardari has said and Prime
Minister Gillani has stated that we are going to work with the
world community to fight this terrorism," she added.

The much-talked about Miss Pakistan World pageant, which
is in its sixth edition, is frowned upon by conservative
forces in the country. PTI RHL
PMR