If a girl is wearing hijab, that’s her choice… let her live: Harnaaz

The 24-year-old, who won the coveted pageant earlier this year, said the matter in question was something she felt she “needed” to address because she believes in letting one live the way they choose to.

“Being the youth of my country… it’s important to have your perspective about anything that’s happening around the world,” Sandhu said during an event in Chandigarh.

A video clip of Sandhu went viral on social media last week where she was asked about her views on the ban, to which she responded, “Let them live the way they choose to.”

“I think I just gave my perspective to it. And at the end of the day, that girl is dominated by the patriarchy system; if that girl is wearing a hijab, that’s her choice. Even if she’s getting dominated, she needs to come and speak.

“Until she doesn’t support herself, how can I support her? And if that’s her choice, then that’s her choice. Let her live the way she wants to live. We are women of all colours, we are women of different cultures, we need to respect each other…I think we all have different lives, so why do you want to pressurise and dominate somebody else?” she added.

Sandhu also spoke about being body-shamed on social media as she revealed that she has celiac disease, an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

“I’m one of those individuals who was first bullied that ‘she’s too skinny’ and now they bully me saying ‘she’s fat’. Nobody knows about my Celiac disease. That I can’t eat wheat flour and many other things,” she said.

“I’m someone who believes in body positivity and one of the Miss Universes for the very first time is going through that. On the platform of Miss Universe, we talk about women empowerment, womanhood, and body positivity. And if I am going through that…I know there are a lot of people who are trolling me and it’s okay because that’s their mindset, their stigmas, but there are a lot of other individuals who are trolled every day whether they are Miss Universe or not. I’m empowering them by making them feel that if I feel gorgeous, (they) are beautiful too,” she said.

Sandhu also met Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at his official residence.

“I am really looking forward to how I can support (the state). It was a beautiful and informative meeting,” she said about the meeting with Mann during which Aam Aadmi Party senior leader Raghav Chadha and Sandhu’s family were also present.

“I want to do a lot of work in Punjab and work towards addressing the drug issue and empowerment of women. In my opinion, the first step is to empower yourself, women of different cultures and all colours and break stereotypes. It is all about womanhood, respect, equity, we need everyone to be treated equally, and not based on gender.”