Former Miss World Diana Hayden has lashed out at Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb after the latter questioned her crowning of the Miss World title in 1997. Diana said that she had long fought the brown skin bias against her since her childhood.
“I am fighting this brown skin bias since my childhood. And I have succeeded. People should be proud of my achievement, rather than belittling it. I am a proud brown-skinned Indian. I am hurt. The minister is in a prominent position and he should be careful about what he says,” Diana was quoted by News18.
Diana wen on to express her pain on being ridiculed by her ‘own people’ in India because of her skin complexion.
“We need to be proud of our skin (colour). God knows, it is appreciated all around the world. Everybody wants to have our skin colour. The last thing we need is our own people not appreciating it,” India Today quoted her as saying.
Deb, who became the chief minister of Tripura last month had courted controversy with his crazy statement on Diana by questioning the rationale behind crowning her as the Miss World. Deb had controversially said that she wasn’t the face of Indian beauty, but Aishwarya Rai was.
“Whoever contested the international beauty pageants won. For five consecutive years, we won the Miss World/Miss Universe awards. Diana Hayden won it too. Do you think she should have won the title?” Deb was quoted by PTI.
Deb’s controversial remarks had evoked another round of angry reactions from journalists, activists and even known supporters of the BJP. Many had even detected bigotry in Deb’s statement.
