The 72nd Miss World beauty pageant will be held in Hyderabad from May 7, 2025. The grand finale will be held on May 31.
For decades, these pageants have been held in various countries around the world, each time amid protests. In our country too, in 1996, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited held the pageant in Bangalore amidst heavy protests. Activists of many women's organizations were arrested in Bangalore during the protests. Finally the swimming pool round was shifted outside India. ABCL suffered monumental losses as it became a very low key event due to very poor attendance, majority of the conscious people boycotting the show!
This Miss World beauty pageant was held in Mumbai, last year after 28 years in India. Immediately this year again it is in Telangana, Hyderabad, India. It is noteworthy that, with its Tourism Dept.'s slogan of "Telangana Zaroor Aana", the Telangana Govt has made a concerted effort to bring such a pageant to the state. It is ironic that a beauty pageant has been chosen to invite domestic and foreign tourists to showcase the state's rich handloom heritage, wonderful tourist destinations, and rare cuisine. These specialities can be exhibited through any other International exhibitions, conferences or gatherings. There is no need to make Hyderabad a venue for this sort of objectionable contest where women are paraded.
It is the BJP led Central Govt which has given permission for these events continuously. This is a tragic yet clear revelation of what the Hindutva forces actually stand for when they assert themselves to be cultural custodians. They glorify the mother going to work with her child tied to her back, but neither enforce creches, nor working hours, nor safe workplaces, nor safe streets, nor adequate clothing or minimum wages, nor even justice in cases of sexual violence at workplace.
It is another tragedy that hosting this event is the ambition of the Congress Telangana government- that the young women of more than 120+ countries are paraded as exhibits; of course sugarcoated in terms of empowerment! This is reality of the Revanth Sarkar, which has failed to give women of Telangana minimum security, to create minimum schemes for employment of youth and women, which ignores many important aspects like education, health, rural and urban development, all of which affect the women of the state.
The central and state rulers should say for which values and virtues they are organizing these beauty contests. It is an affront to women's self-esteem to hold these contests that shape women's bodies and lives to sell products for market needs, by imposing measurements on women's bodies and showing off body parts.
This is how Capital devalues women - it turns their bodies into a commercial commodity. It lures girls to dream about a golden world of fame and recognition but the real picture is dark and brutally exploitative. And in India with its semi feudal culture, when the girls of our homes face sexual violence on roads, in workplaces, all fingers point at the girl - her dress, her face, the hour, her going out alone, her very existence. Under the guise of intellect and rights over the body, it is actually a trivialization of bodily autonomy. Rights over the body primarily mean control over one's sexuality, and exposing body parts to exhibit before an audience gathered for this purpose, with the event being broadcast live worldwide, actually creates a false narrative of women empowerment. It simply serves to sell the products of large companies by objectifying women's bodies. Govts mock the needs and aspirations of the women of our country, and twist the meanings of empowerment and emancipation. Women organisations in Telangana have already taken the lead against this beauty pageant and we the National women organisations call upon state units and all other women organizations all over the country to protest against the same. We demand that the state and central government immediately cancel this pageant. Commodification of women's bodies must be resisted actively! We demand Equality, We demand real Empowerment!
*ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (AIDWA)*
*ALL INDIA MAHILA SANSKRITIK SANGHATAN(AIMSS)*
*ALL INDIA COORDINATION OF POW- PMS- IJM
*ALL INDIA PROGRESSIVE WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION (AIPWA)*
* NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDIAN WOMEN (NFIW)*
