New Delhi: Vikuonuo Sachu, one of the runners-up at the Miss Kohima beauty pageant, has been trending on social media after her subtle yet witty response to a judge’s question during the state-run beauty contest in Nagaland.
The 18-year-old was asked what would she tell PM Narendra Modi if she were invited for a chat with him. In response, Sachu said she would ask him to “focus more on women instead of cows”. Her response was applauded as the hall burst into laughter.
The state-run beauty pageant, an annual affair since 1989, was held on 5 October in Kohima. As many as 12 women vied for the crown, after undergoing extensive personality development training, under Agathos Society, since September 30.
The question-answer round of the beauty contest saw judges asking the contestants to share their views on several sociopolitical issues — gender equality, importance of education for both men and women, empowering the girl child through education for example.
The pageant
Agathos Society, the organiser of the event, says the pageant works towards women empowerment, and that the contest is not just a beauty platform but also provides job opportunities to the participants.
This organisation says it wants to expand and collaborate with other agencies and companies to further its goals.
The pageant has outlined “Educate a Girl, Empower a Society” as its theme, which gels well with the Narendra Modi government’s campaign to save and educate the girl child (Beti Bachao, Beto Padhao), which was started in 2015 keeping in mind the declining child sex ratio in the country.
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This pageant, however, is not affiliated to Femina, which organises the official Miss India contest, and doesn’t officially send the winners to other regional or national competitions. Femina organises another pageant, Femina Miss India Nagaland, for the state. However, previous contestants and winners of the Miss Kohima title have independently participated in other platforms.
Miss Kohima 2019
Khrienuo Liezietsu (23) has been crowned the 2019 Miss Kohima, with Khrielievinuo Shohu (19) finishing first runner-up and Vikuonuo Sachu the second runner-up. The contest also awarded Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality, Miss Talent, Miss Perfect, Queen of Hearts, and Best Evening Wear titles.
Sachu’s response during the Q/A round, which has now gone viral, comes at a time when incidents of mob violence and lynching over alleged cattle smuggling have been reported frequently over the last years.
In Northeast, cow meat or beef is part of the staple diet for most people.
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