Women's rights activists are urging Miss India to give...

Women's rights activists are urging Miss India to give up aspirations of fame and join the boycott of this year's Miss World pageant in Nigeria over the sentencing of a single mother to death by stoning. India is a major player in international beauty contests, and Miss India Shruti Sharma plans to attend the controversial December 7 pageant in Nigeria. "We would really like her to join the boycott of the pageant and demand that Nigerian authorities annul the death sentence given to Amina Lawal," said Shalini Singh, convenor of a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation, Empowering Women Today. Brinda Karat, a senior leader in the Communist Party of India-Marxist, agreed that Sharma's participation in the Nigerian pageant would reflect poorly on India. "I am against Miss World competitions per se but in this specific context the Indian contingent should seriously reconsider its decision," said Karat. Sathya Saran, editor of the women's magazine Femina which organises the Miss India contest, said Indian women's showing in the Miss World and Miss Universe contests had a "positive impact" on the status of women here. At the moment we have no plans of pulling Shruti Sharma out of the Miss World competition in Nigeria." They the Indian women are "winning" so many competitions because international cosmetics firms are eager to penetrate the multi-billion dollar Indian beauty products market. "No one is disputing the fact that Indian women are beautiful, but cosmetic firms are creating a market for themselves by exploiting the Miss World competition as a platform for their products," said Karat. "It is appalling that they should think of having a Miss World competition in a country so poor as Nigeria. It is a travesty to have these pageants in these poor third world countries." The beauty business, modelling and fashion have boomed in recent years with special courses aimed at young, mostly middle class Indian women.