World News for Students of English

18-02-2022 07:00

A college student named Muskan Khan became a symbol of resistance in India’s Karnataka state, where tensions are rising over the right to wear religious clothing to school.

Khan attempted to hand in a college assignment when a group of men approached and stopped her because she was wearing a burqa. The woman had covered her head with a hijab, an Islamic headscarf, and the men demanded that she take it off.

In another state school, a group of girls could not enter the classroom because the girls wore hijabs.

Activists say that these events are part of a crackdown on India’s minority Muslim population, and the crackdown started when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power nearly eight years ago. They say that the government is denying religious freedom enshrined in Indian laws.

After a week of protests, some schools in Karnataka reopened; however, the state’s education minister said that he supported banning the hijab in educational institutions.

Difficult words: burqa (a piece of clothing that covers the whole head and body, and some Muslim women wear it), crackdown (a strong official action to punish people who break laws), enshrined (protected or preserved).

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