Miss World 1996
- an amalgam
of news reports -
Miss Greece was crowned Miss World 1996 in a glittering ceremony in
Bangalore that contrasted sharply with clashes earlier between rock-throwing
anti-pageant protesters and police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
Irene Skliva, an 18-year-old model, was the winner.
After receiving a silver crown from 1995 winner Jacqueline Aguilera Marcano
of Venezuela, Skliva, 18, waved and blew kisses to the crowd.
Miss Colombia, Carolina Arango, was the first runner-up, while Miss Brazil,
Anuska Prado, placed third.
Before the pageant finals began, about 1,000 demonstrators denouncing beauty
contests as demeaning to women tried to block roads leading to the site of
the pageant, a cricket stadium. Many chanted “Go Home Miss World.”
Police swung bamboo canes and fired rubber bullets into the rock-throwing
crowds, and at least 50 people were injured. Protesters later demanded a
judicial investigation into police tactics.
Several policemen were hospitalized with burning eyes after some protesters
hurled fiery red chili powder at them, an officer at the police control room
said. He did not give details.
Nearly 10,000 policemen, many armed with rifles, batons and shields, were
deployed to prevent violence, making the 1996 show, according to organizers,
the most well-guarded Miss World since the pageants began.
Hundreds of people with tickets were unable to get into the stadium even an
hour after the nearly three-hour show began due to tight security.
Police arrested 1,650 people, holding many of them under laws allowing
people suspected of planning unrest to be detained.
The effort to stop the pageant - held for the first time in India - followed
weeks of protests, including a student in a nearby town who set himself
alight and committed suicide, shouting slogans against the pageant.
Eric Morley, the one-time public relations man who founded the Miss World
pageant 46 years ago, said he had never seen such opposition to the show.
The protesters say the pageant treats women as objects and benefits only
plastic surgeons and cosmetics manufacturers; organizers say it will boost
tourism and encourage foreign investment in India.
