Olympian asked to take off hijab

Houston: Amid increasing rhetoric around Muslims in the US, an Olympian was asked to remove her hijab for a photo on her ID badge by the staff at a cultural event in Texas, following which the organisers apologised to her.

Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympian fencer, was picking up an identification badge at the interactive Texas festival South by Southwest (SXSW) event on Saturday when a volunteer told her she must take off her hijab before her photograph could be taken. “Even after I explained it was for religious reasons, he insisted I had to remove my hijab,” she said on Twitter.