The Indian woman who stood up to moral policing and won a pageant

Muskaan Sharma stood up to men who tried to bully her over her clothes and went on to win hearts and beauty pageants.

The 23-year-old, who was crowned Miss Rishikesh 2025 last week in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, told the BBC that although it was a small local competition, it “made me feel like Miss Universe”.

Sharma’s win made headlines in India because it came after a viral video showed her arguing passionately with a man who stormed training just a day before the competition, which will be held on October 4.

Sharma, who “wanted to be a model and participate in a pageant since I was in school,” said the hackers entered immediately after they had lunch.

“We were sitting and laughing and laughing when they came in,” she said.

The footage showed Raghavendra Bhatnagar, district president of a Hindu group called Rashtriya Hindu Shakti Sangathan, objecting to the Western skirts and dresses worn by Sharma and other contestants.

Bhatnagar is heard telling them: “The fashion show is over, go home.” “This is against the culture of Uttarakhand.”

Sharma refuses to back down. “Why don’t you close the shops that sell them? [Western clothes]?

Then she told him that he should spend his energies on worse things than women’s clothing—social evils like drinking and smoking.

“There’s a store outside that sells cigarettes and alcohol. Why don’t you close it? Stop those things first and I’ll stop wearing these clothes,” she says.

The man explodes at her, saying, “Don’t tell me what to do.” She responds as well. “If you have the right to choose, so do we,” she says. “Our opinion matters as much as yours.”

As the argument continued, some other contestants and organizers joined Sharma, and Bhatnagar and his group were finally escorted out by the hotel manager, who threatened to stop the show.

Sharma says her reaction to Bhatnagar was “spontaneous”.

“I could see my dreams shattering in front of me. The only question on my mind at that time was, will the competition continue? Will I be able to walk the ramp? Or will all my hard work be in vain?” She says.

The next day, the event continued as planned and Sharma won the crown.

“Three seconds after hearing my name announced, I was shocked,” she said.

“But then I was happy that I stood up for myself and that I won. It felt like a double victory. It was a small beauty pageant in a small place but it made me feel like Miss Universe,” she said.

Sharma says women being harassed over their clothing is unheard of in Rishikesh, a city nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas on the banks of the Ganges. It is famous for its ashrams, meditation and yoga retreats and is considered a sacred Hindu site that attracts large numbers of tourists and pilgrims.

The city is also sought after by Beatles fans because the four band members spent weeks in an ashram there in 1968.

“You see tourists wearing Western clothes here all the time and no one bats an eye at them,” she adds.

Globally, beauty pageants have been criticized for objectifying women and reinforcing gender stereotypes.

But these pageants have been hugely popular in India since 1994, the year Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title and Aishwarya Rai took home the Miss World trophy.

Both became top Bollywood actresses and have since inspired generations of young women to follow their path.

The similar successes of Priyanka Chopra, Diana Hayden and Lara Dutta in recent years have only strengthened the belief that beauty pageants can be a ticket to success, especially for young women in small-town India.

Sharma says her parents have always been very supportive of her decision to participate in the pageant. In the video that went viral, she was heard asking Bhatnagar: “Who are you to comment on my clothes if my parents allow me to wear them?”

But the backlash against Western clothing in India is nothing new, where what women wear routinely becomes a topic of debate. In a deeply patriarchal society, many associate Western clothing, especially jeans, with “Moral decline“From the youth.

Schools and colleges set dress codes for female students, and sometimes village elders forbid an entire community of girls from wearing jeans.

The BBC has reported on a number of cases in which girls and women were discriminated against and insulted because of their clothing.

Several years ago, we wrote about A 19 year old student In Assam, who appeared wearing shorts to take an exam and was forced to wrap a curtain around her legs after the teacher objected.

In one Extreme caseA teenager was allegedly murdered by her relatives for wearing jeans.

Namita Bhandari in it column Hindustan Times reports that there is no objection to Mr Rishikesh’s competition as the participants are barely dressed.

She wrote that the objection to Sharma and other contestants’ outfits is “barely a fig leaf”.

“The issue is not clothes. The issue is freedom and ambition. How dare these young women appear on a stage that could catapult them to a larger global platform? How dare they cross the lines of honor and shame imposed on them by a patriarchal society?”

Bhandari writes that in India, where there are not enough female MPs or judges, the rejection by young women from a small town is striking.

Sharma says it was her mother who taught her to stand up for what is right. “The crown is my mother’s crown as much as it is mine. Without her I would not be the person I am today.”

She believes her story will now encourage other women to stand up for themselves, and for what is right.

“I’m saying that at this moment, I was scared and nervous too. But I also want to say that if you think you’re right, you can fight too.”

“For me, the crown has always been secondary,” she says. “The most important thing is to encourage women to stand up against injustice and speak up for what is right.”

I ask her what’s next for her.

“I will choose Miss Uttarakhand next year and then Miss India. After that, I will see where life takes me.”