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NEELAM Whoever watched the movie "Miss Congeniality", starring
Sandra Bullock as an undercover policewoman who enters the "Miss United
States pageant" to solve a crime, saw a bunch of beauty delegates
preaching about how they would work to accomplish world peace in case they
were crowned as the winner. Exaggerations apart, it is obvious that the
women competing in pageants know that they are no superheroes with the
power to solve all of the world's problems. Nevertheless, some of them
have given their small contribution by spreading sincere messages of
peace. Neelam, Miss Pakistan, is one of them. It was the first time ever
that Pakistan had sent a delegate to compete in a major international
beauty pageant. In just five days, Neelam proved to the world that there's
more to the relationship between her country and some other nations than
just hate over land disputes, in the case of India, with whom she became
good friends. She also showed us that religions should not set people
apart, and instead, bring them together, as she became very good friends
with Miss Israel. Neelam was forced to leave, and she did it in tears, as
we were informed by a couple of contestants we spoke to on the phone
today. Nonetheless, she made a statement, and shall be remembered for
that. Neelam has also been featured on the front page of the Wall-Street
Journal in the United States and many other newspapers around the
world. |