or decades campaigns have been launched the world over to redefine beauty standards and help people realise that beauty is more than just the skin colour.

In Pakistan, a move has also been starte d to create public awareness that people should not be made victim of the skin colour.

The `Dark is Divine` drive in Pakistan was started in October 2013 by Fatima Lodhi on her Facebook page. So far, over 300 people have liked the page and are supporting her cause.

`Let us promise to question and change the opinion of colour-biased beauty standards. Let us look in the mirror and learn to love our beautiful dark skin tone. Let us take a stand against colour discrimination,` says Fatima, 24, on the Facebook page.

She launched the campaign after knowing that a similar cultural movement,`Black is Beautiful` had been started in the US and India.

Despite all capabilities, `I was judged by the skin colour. I also faced criticism from my school and university fellows, she said.

`I spent my childhood worrying about my complexion. I remember that whenever I was asked to draw a face and colour it the teacher always gave me a peach crayon rather than darker shades like brown or black. This was the first ugliest truth that I had experienced about the colour discrimination,` she said.

`I worked so hard that I was nominated to attend an international economic conference on post-2015 millennium development goals (MDGs) in Malaysia in 2010 along with the then foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar,` she said.

`At the age of 24, I managed to maintain a CV which is of 12 pages but still I am considered as someone with an ugly complexlon,` she added.

Mohammad Asim, a resident of Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, said his sister could not get a suitable groom because of her colour.

`It is shocking to see the role of the media in making Pakistan a society that discriminates against women with dark complexion. Advertisements of whitening creams and attitudes of people make their lives miserable,` he said.

Dr Anila Kamal, the dean of the National Institute of Psychology at the Quaid-i-Azam University, said colour discrimination can create psychological problems for people.

`Persons having fair completion take an extra edge of their colour and personality.

However, sometimes people having dark colour put extra efforts in every work because they know that they don`t have the edge of colour. But some people go on the back-foot because of their colour.

Human rights activist Tahira Abdullah said: `People think that girls having fair colour are more beautiful. Even media houses appoint staff of fair colour,` she said, adding the mindset of society needed to be changed.

Prof Tahir Mahmood, the president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association, said teachers should be very careful while dealing with their students.

`Persons with fair and dark skins have similar characteristics so they should not be considered because of colour of skin, he said.

Legal expert Abdul Razaque said negative remarks can damage the personality of people.

`Remarks, especially regarding racism, are very sensitive issues. Even criminal proceedings can be started against people involved in it,` he said.

Council of Islamic Ideology member Maulana Tahir Ashrafi said: `Prophet Muhammad clearly said preference should be given to a person on the basis of their character rather than colour of the skin. In fact, Hazrat Bilal, who was a Negro, got more respect among the people compared to others because of his character and behaviour.