Uzbekistan-born teenager becomes first Muslim Miss England
Showbiz Desk

LONDON—An Uzbekistan-born teenager became the first ever Muslim girl to be crowned Miss England and will compete in the Miss World pageant in China in December.
Hammasa Kohistani, 18, whose parents had fled Afghanistan, said she was delighted but surprised to learn she was the winner and hoped she would not be the last Muslim girl to receive the honour.
“When they announced that I had won I thought I had misheard... it took a second to sink in,” said Kohistani, dressed in an ivory white chiffon and silk ball gown designed and made by her mother. Sarah Mendly, a 23-year-old Iraqi Muslim, had been the four-to-one favourite to win the contest, being held in Liverpool, northern England.
Asked about being the first Muslim Miss England, Kohistani said: “I’m making history and I’m very happy. Hopefully I won’t be the last.” She was born in Tashkent, central Uzbekistan, after her parents were forced to flee Afghanistan.
The brunette, who speaks six languages including Russian, Persian and French, looked ecstatic as the crown was placed on her head before a cheering crowd in Liverpool’s Olympia Theatre. She was selected from a group of 40 entrants following the two-day competition.
The student, who was known as Miss Maya after the Asian fashion house which sponsored her, has also been offered a part in a forthcoming Bollywood movie. The competition winner secures a place in the Miss World final in China in December which offers a 100,000-dollar (80,000-euro) prize.
Kohistani and Mendly, a biochemistry graduate who had already been named Miss Nottingham, were among four Muslims among the 20 finalists — a fact that has annoyed some senior Islamic clerics. “There is no way a Muslim girl should be playing any part in this competition, because it is unlawful,” said Hashim Sulaiman of the Liverpool Islamic Institute, according to Friday’s edition of the Times newspaper.
“The ladies in that contest are very scantily dressed and the only part of the body that should be on display are the face, the hands, and the feet.” The contest comes against the backdrop of attacks by Islamist suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters in London in July, raising tensions in Britain, which counts a 1.6 million Muslim minority.