Tag: brawl

  • ‘Mrs Sri Lanka’ injured after ‘Mrs World’ snatches crown

    ‘Mrs Sri Lanka’ injured after ‘Mrs World’ snatches crown

    The winner of a major Sri Lankan beauty prize has suffered head injuries after a tussle on stage.

    Beauty queen Pushpika De Silva won the ‘Mrs Sri Lanka’ title at a ceremony on Sunday. Moments after the crown was placed on her head, the 2019 winner seized Mrs De Silva’s crown, claiming she could not be awarded the title because she was divorced.

    Though the judges had announced Ms De Silva the 2021 winner at the final in a theatre in Colombo, the 2019 winner, Caroline Jurie, stripped Mrs De Silva of her crown, citing a pageant rule that competitors must be married and not divorced.

    “There is a rule that you have to be married and not divorced, so I am taking my first steps in saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up,” Mrs Jurie told the audience while taking off Mrs De Silva’s crown.

    She then placed the crown on the runner-up, prompting a tearful Mrs De Silva to walk off stage. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

    The organisers later apologised to Mrs De Silva, after they confirmed that she was only separated and not divorced and returned the prize to her.

    Meanwhile, Mrs De Silva, in Facebook post, said that she had to go to a hospital to be treated for head injuries after the incident.

    The pageant winner said that she would take legal action for the “unreasonable and insulting” way she was treated.

    “There are a lot of single mums like me today who are suffering in Sri Lanka,” said Mrs De Silva, addressing a press conference. “This crown is dedicated to those women, those single mums who are suffering to raise their kids alone.”

    According to a report, the national director of Mrs Sri Lanka World, Chandimal Jayasinghe, has said that the crown would be returned to Mrs De Silva on Tuesday.

    “We are disappointed,” he said, adding: “It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage and the Mrs World organisation has already begun an investigation on the matter.”

    Police have questioned Mrs Jurie, who is the current holder of the ‘Mrs World’ title, as well as Mr Jayasinghe, about the incident.

    The Mrs Sri Lanka World beauty pageant is a major contest in the country. The prime minister’s wife was among the guests at the ceremony.

  • VIDEO: Firdous, Azma come to blows after on-air fight

    VIDEO: Firdous, Azma come to blows after on-air fight

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Azma Bukhari and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan had traded barbs at a Geo News show earlier this week, forcing the host to end the programme.

    However, their disagreement did not end even after the show, as both politicians almost came to blows on the news channel’s premises. The PML-N leader can be heard saying that she would slap Firdous for using abusive language towards her.

    A person present at the scene of the brawl told The Current that things got uglier when Firdous was about to hit Azma. However, the staffers intervened to placate the CM’s aide and the Punjab lawmaker.

    The fight between the politicians started after Azma took a jab at PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur for making sexist remarks against PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz in a rally in Gilgit-Baltistan last week. This didn’t go down well with Firdous, who criticised the PML-N for being corrupt among other things.

    The politicians also accused the rival parties of stealing people’s mandate and kept on arguing even after the show ended.

    Responding to Azma Bukhari’s allegations, Firdous — who was appointed as chief minister’s information aide last week — said Nawaz Sharif was in cahoots with the military establishment in past. She gave examples of IJI [Islami Jamhoori Ittehad] — an alliance funded by the powers-that-be against then PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in the late ’80s.

    The CM’s aide also referred to a Supreme Court judgement in the Asghar Khan case. She asked how did Nawaz Sharif become the prime minister for three times?

    Responding to claims that Imran Khan was a ‘selected’ prime minister, Firdous said Nawaz had become the PM after going through the same process — getting a two-third majority in parliament.

    “Whose mandate did he steal to become the PM?” Firdous asked Azma, saying they didn’t question the results when their party had won the elections.