Sarkari have hots

When Vaneeza Ahmed declared President Pervez Musharraf as the hottest man in Pakistan back in 2004 (in Herald’s Annual issue), Mush, indeed was a hot property, riding the popular wave, with no opposition to speak of. But I was shocked out of my skin (metaphorically of course) when I read that, because I thought Vinnie would have a better taste in men than falling for an aging generalissimo. I personally abhor all men who dye their hair. Men with mile wide eye bags and loose hanging jowls don’t gel well with jet black hair (And Mush keep changing his hair colour, at times it is cherry blossom black, at times it is mahogany brown and at times rusty brown!) So I really cant get the fascination most women HAD with Mush (a huge majority of them is Indian), a lot of auntis still have for Imran Khan and Shobha De has for Asif Zardari. They all wear khizab (hair dye for the uninitiated) unabashedly (Imran Khan is one step ahead and wears artificial hair as well) and hardly say anything remotely intelligent, if ever.
You can imagine how big a shock it must have been for me when one Pakistani beauty pageants winner said that apna Mush is a "hunk".

According to news reports, reigning Miss Pakistan World Mahleej Sarkari found time last week to write a post on Musharraf on the pageant's website.

"A little note to the people of Pakistan. Going to international pageants we have found out how much Musharraf is known to all beautiful young girls, the beauty queens. Some have replied, 'Oh yes, the general man (sic)'. While others have said 'the man who rules Pakistan'," wrote Sarkari.

Sarkari said she would love to date Musharraf if he asked her out. "Yes, any time...I like him a lot...," she told a news portal.

Sarkari also said she thought "Mrs Musharraf would nod her head in agreement that her husband is an icon no matter what happens".

Sonia Ahmed, founder of the Miss Pakistan World pageant, too is a huge Musharraf fan. On the pageant's website, there are several shots of beauty queens holding up Musharraf's picture, blowing kisses and saying, "We love you Mushy".

"Well, I am a huge fan of President Musharraf and so are my Miss and Mrs Pakistans and I don't know why but we all look up to him as a man who gave freedom to the entertainment industry and media.

"There is no PPP or Nawaz that gave that freedom, however they are all claiming that they are 'oh so moderate!'" Ahmed said in a statement.

Pakistanis have been winning quite a few pageants internationally. A Pakistani girl was declared runner-up for the Miss Disco Queen contest earlier this month.

Sarkari represented Pakistan in the Miss Tourism Queen International contest earlier this month in China.

While most contestants taking part in such pageants are non-resident Pakistanis, a few residents are flying out of the country to make a mark at these events.

Sarkari, a Baloch, was raised in Karachi and has been in Toronto for the past six years. She had gone to Canada to study but stayed on and now runs a spa business there.

"We are showing people that young women from Pakistan deserve a voice and can do great things when given the chance. On an international level, we have far surpassed our goals bringing home six international titles within the past five years," Ahmed said.

When reminded that Musharraf was not exactly popular in her home province of Balochistan, she said, "I don't care...that's politics."

Sarkari bibi may not care much for politics, but Pakistani awam cant think anything beyond that, all the major newspapers’ headline this morning was Prime Minister’s comment on impeachment of the president. As far as Sarkari is concerned, I feel sorry for her. Not only she had to live her life with a name like sarkari, she had to fall for a man who is not only old enough to be her dad but who has a really bad hair stylist who cannot stick to one hair colour. A friend very correctly commented on Sarkari’s dilemma, “Once your parents have named you Sarakari, they have pretty much mapped out your dating future.”