To no surprise, Khagendra Sangraula has published a blistering attack against the upcoming Miss Nepal Contest in today's [Wednesday's] Kantipur. As the article makes clear, Sangraula's wrath is NOT against beauty contests per se, but against the agents of capitalism who come, in this case, in the form of a multinational business. [NOTE: The lead sponsor of the Miss Nepal Contest is Dabur-Nepal, a firm that has a Nepali -- Mr. Rukma Sumsher Rana -- as its Nepali partner.] Since I was also at the Royal Nepal Academy program (see my prevous posting on this thread above) that Sangraula mentions in today's article, I can say that Sangraula -- rushing to prove his point -- has MISREPRESENTED the positions taken by Gagan T hapa (a Nepali Congress youth leader) and Pratyoush Onta (a historian). Gagan's position was that of ambivalence toward such contests, and Pratyoush's concern was that the organisers behind the contest should help the winners develop careers of their interest (whether in journalism or in something else!). Unless I heard Gagan and Pratyoush wrong, there was NOTHING in their speeches that could be said that they were AGAINST beauty contests . . . but you wouldn't know that by reading Sangraula's piece in today's Kantipur. At the function, speakers such as artist Ashmina Ranjit (who'll be entering New York's Columbia University in three weeks on a Fullbright Fellowship), former Miss Nepal Malvika Subba and choreographer Srijana Yonzon spoke in favor of such contests with verifable evidence. Unsurprisingly, in his article, Sangraula chose NOT to address their arguments. He did not even bother to address the objections raised by his critics. So much for intellectual honesty!! oohi ashu