[caption id="attachment_2638" align="alignleft" width="976"] Ms Robin was judged ahead of four other finalists at a pageant held in the Maldives[/caption] It was described as "shameful" by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, the Caretaker prime minister, even ordered an investigation. Particularly among Pakistani men, there has been vicious online discussion.

What exactly sparks this outrage?

At the Miss Universe pageant, a 24-year-old Christian woman, Sindh resident Erica Robin will represent extreme conservative Pakistan. At a pageant held in the Maldives, Ms Robin was selected as Miss Universe Pakistan from among five finalists. The Miss Universe Bahrain and Miss Universe Egypt franchise rights are also owned by the Dubai-based Yugen Group, which organised the competition. It said that there were "overwhelming" numbers of applicants for the Miss Universe Pakistan pageant. El Salvador will host the Miss Universe competition finals in November.

Backlash and support

"It feels great to represent Pakistan. But I don't understand where the backlash is coming from. I think it is this idea that I would be parading in a swimsuit in a room full of men," Ms Robin told the BBC. Critics of her nomination say she represents a country that does not want representation, especially because beauty pageants are rare in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Miss Pakistan World, a pageant for women of Pakistani descent from around the world, is perhaps the best known. It was first held in Toronto in 2002 but shifted to Lahore in 2020. The pageant has also seen various spin-offs such as Miss Pakistan Universe, Ms. Pakistan Universe and even Miss Transgender Pakistan. Pakistan has never submitted a nomination for a Miss Universe representative in the contest's 72-year existence. Ms. Robin said that she was asked to name one thing she wished to accomplish for her country during the second selection stage of the competition, which took place on Zoom. "And I replied, I would want to change this mindset that Pakistan is a backward country." That could be difficult because there has been some hostile reaction to his nomination. Still, models, writers and journalists praised Ms. Robin, with journalist Mariana Babar praising her "beauty and intelligence" on X, formerly known as Twitter. But as Pakistani model Vaneeza Ahmed, who first encouraged Ms Robin to get into modelling, told Voice of America Urdu: "When these men are fine with international competitions called 'Mister Pakistan', why do they have a problem with a woman's achievement?"

From rock and roll to Islamic Republic

"We are a nation of many contradictions and women and the marginalised trigger us the most," Karachi-based writer and commentator Rafay Mehmood told the BBC. "Pakistan is at large an authoritarian state and that reflects in the harsh patriarchal values it enables both institutionally and socially. Erica Robin and the policing she has faced is an extension of that," he added. But there are records of a Pakistan that was once much freer. Copies of the Dawn newspaper from the 1950s to the late 1970s contained advertisements for belly dancers and foreign belly dancers performing at a club near old Elphinstone Street in downtown Karachi . These nightclubs are frequented by activists, diplomats, politicians, flight attendants and young people. The historic Metropole Hotel in Karachi is also a popular venue for singing and jazz performances. But in 1973, Pakistan's parliament created a constitution declaring the country an Islamic republic and Islam the state religion. Four years later, military leader General Zia ul-Haq overthrew the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. What followed in the decade is what activists and lawyers call the “repressive period,” when Islamic law was enforced and Pakistani society was radically transformed. In the mid-1980s, General Zia even reinstated public flogging to demonstrate his commitment to Islamic law. Today, the nightclubs and bars are long gone and the Metropole hotel seems to be in danger of collapsing. Just down the street, a skeletal structure of what was originally believed to be an abandoned casino sits. But the longing for a freer and more tolerant Pakistan has not disappeared, and Ms. Robin is among those pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not. She is a graduate of St Patrick`s High School and Government College of Commerce and Economics, is adamant that she did nothing wrong. "I'm not breaking any law by representing Pakistan on a global platform. I am doing my bit to quell any stereotypes about it," she said.