Sonia Ahmed

Sonia Ahmed (Urdu: ), founder of Miss Canada Pakistan Inc., Miss Pakistan World and Mrs. Pakistan World, is a pioneer in the international beauty and talent pageant industry for Pakistan.

Sonia attended Carmel Convent Catholic School in Kuwait after which her family moved to Ottawa in Canada, where she attended Notre Dame Catholic High School. Always an academic, Ahmed was awarded a medal for being ranked in the top 10 academically at her high school in Canada and also received a $8,000 scholarship to attend the University of Ottawa where she earned a degree in Business.

Now living in Toronto, Ontario, Ahmed considers herself a major driving force for the "progression" and "liberation" of Pakistani women on a global scale. Working through her pageants, Ahmed aims to build governmental, corporate and cultural connections to showcase the beauty and talent of what she considers a new Pakistani generation.

The pageant organizers consider their event as a sort of civil rights movements, through which it is hoped that the young and married women of Pakistan are able to gain a voice on the international stage.

Pageant history - Pakistan's new pageant industry

In high school, Ahmed was given the Miss Catwalk 1996 title and began thinking of how she could represent her native Pakistan in the world of fashion and pageantry. Once the realization hit that Pakistan was being represented around the world in a very one-dimensional way, Ahmed began the creation of Miss Canada Pakistan Inc. Because pageants were not allowed to be held on Pakistani soil, Ahmed created the pageant in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and began by taking delegates of Pakistani descent now living in Canada. The pageant has since been renamed Miss Pakistan World, and takes applications from Pakistani women from around the globe.

As of January 2008, Miss Pakistan World winner have gone on to 16 international titles and have represented Pakistan in almost every international pageant made available.

In 2006, Ahmed created Mrs. Pakistan World and saw the first married women represent Pakistan in the Mrs. World pageant.

Sonia Ahmed brought alive an industry that never existed for Pakistan, and thus through her the pageant industry came into existence. Till date Sonia Ahmed has sent the Miss Pakistan World winners to 16 international pageants representing Pakistan in various countries and have won 7 international titles for Pakistan. She is the brainchild and the pioneer for Pakistan's pageant industry.

Political Views

Sonia Ahmed has always been a huge fan of President Musharraf, the President of Pakistan. In a recent interview of Indian Channel Aaj Tak she was quoted as follows:

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.

"Let me tell you future Miss Pakistan's as well as Mrs. Pakistan's how we ended up getting the poster of Musharraf Sahab. We searched the internet and finally found this high resolution picture of him. And so we told our printer to make a big poster out of it," Ahmed said.

Incidentally, in the picture Musharraf is clad in his army uniform which he doffed last year.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu