Bangladeshi Muslim researcher faces offensive comments in Sweden due to headscarf

The Swedish magazine Skogseko’s front cover of its new number sparked widespread criticism on social networking sites within Sweden.

The magazine put on its cover the image of the researcher, “Mastarin Ara”, a veiled Muslim woman from Bangladesh, who was interviewed by the magazine about the findings of her research on the best ways to preserve forests.

For its part, the magazine responded in a tweet: “We have seen the awful comments and want you to know that we support you – don’t let this bring you down! We strongly reject racism. Being a Muslim, wearing headscarf is not relevant for the article. The news value decides what we chose to publish.”

The researcher also responded to the attack on her Twitter account saying: “Today I came to know all the racist comments about this cover photo due to my headscarf and skin color. It appears that they don’t want to manage their forest by listening to professional research and insights from brown skin and Muslim women.”

“I came all this way with my hard work and efforts, and I will not let them put me down. I will continue my work, through any and all challenges, with my headscarf and beliefs, hoping that one day they will value the work regardless of the appearance of the person,” the researcher added.

Ara’s response was met with a positive reaction from Twitter users, as many tweeted supportive of her and her career.