Manchester United star Paul Pogba highlights religious mob situation in India through Instagram story

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has taken to Instagram in an attempt to draw attention towards the ongoing situation involving religious mobs in India. The Frenchman updated his Instagram story with footage of the Hindutva mob harassing Muslim girls for wearing hijabs to their college in Karnataka.

The 'hijab row' illustrates the religious tension simmering in the southern Indian state of Karnataka over the last couple of months. It started with Muslim girls protesting after being denied entry into a government-run school for wearing a hijab.

The girls petitioned the court to lift the crackdown on their right to wear religious clothing to school, which prompted right-wing Hindu students to come out with protests of their own. Over the last few days, tensions have flared up with student mobs clad in saffron - the color of India's ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) - were spotted harassing Muslim girls in Karnataka.

In the wake of the incident in India, Pogba has used Instagram as a medium to bring to light the plight of the Muslim minority within the country. The midfielder, however, has seemingly angered some sections of Manchester United's fans from India who support the ruling party.

One fan wrote on Twitter:

"Hi @ManUtd. You've lost a hardcore ManUtd fan today!! Either @paulpogba apologizes or you'll lose your loyal fan base in India. Won't watch a single match whenever Pogba plays."

As things stand, the top court in Karnataka has referred the petition from the Muslim girls to a larger panel of judges. But there has yet to be clarity on the dates set for the hearings.

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Paul Pogba scored on his return to action for Manchester United in the Premier League

After a lengthy injury lay-off, Pogba made a comeback into the Manchester United team during the FA Cup defeat to Middlesbrough last week. Despite Ralf Rangnick's men crashing out on penalties against the Championship side, Pogba performed admirably.

Understandably, he was named in the starting lineup to face Burnley on Tuesday and ended up scoring for Manchester United. Although Pogba gave the visitors the lead at Turf Moor in the 18th minute, the Red Devils conceded an equalizer to Jay Rodriguez two minutes after the half-time interval.

Manchester United slipped to fifth in the Premier League table following the 1-1 draw against Burnley. They return to action on Saturday against Southampton, who travel to Old Trafford on the back of an exciting 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur.