The 74th Miss Universe pageant has been embroiled in controversy. Now, Miss Universe Pakistan 2025 Roma Riaz has come under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Riaz has been the target of trolls, who have been dropping negative comments under her posts, from calling her ‘dark,’ ‘heavy,’ and ’not pretty,’ to suggesting she use glutathione injections, and saying, ‘Shakal se toh tu Indian lag rahi hai (You look like an Indian).’
Miss Universe Pakistan blasts trolls
On November 10, Riaz finally responded to the criticism that had been directed her way by sharing a video on Instagram, and said, “My skin is the same colour as the soil of Pakistan, the same colour as the women who built our families, our homes.”
The Miss Universe Pakistan 2025 winner added, “As one of the first dark-skinned women to represent Pakistan on a global stage, I knew there would be backlash… change never comes without resistance. But I carry it with grace, knowing that every step forward opens a door for the next girl to walk through.”
She even criticised the people of Pakistan for resorting to negativity and urged them to support her on such a global stage. A few influencers and content creators spoke in support of Riaz. One such content creator, Bilal Hassan, posted a video criticising Pakistan's ‘gora (fair) complex’.
‘Our idea of beauty has shifted from brown to white’
Criticising people of Pakistan for trolling Riaz for looking ‘too Pakistani, too brown, and too real’, Bilal remembered several past beauties from Pakistan who were proudly brown, and that was the standard for the country, whose anthem was the song ‘Sanwali Saloni Si Mehbooba’ by Junaid Jamshed.
He stressed how OG supermodels from Pakistan took the country to the global stage, including Mehreen Syed, who modelled for shows in Paris and Milan, Aaminah Haq, ‘the face of a generation’, Vaneeza Ahmed, and Iraj Manzoor.
He stressed, “These women defined beauty, confidence, and power long before colour palettes and contour. But somewhere along the line, our idea of beauty shifted from brown to white, from real to filtered, and from decolonised to colonised. And the faces that made us proud, we try to erase them with glutathione injections. Maybe Roma Riaz isn't the problem, maybe the problem is our reflection in the mirror.” Roma thanked him for his video, writing, “THANK YOU! so glad you did this with facts and timestamps.”