pusskin - I honestly don't know why, but perfectly nice, Asian, Pakistani girls would suddenly turn up in 6th form wearing the veil (school had no power over uniform ion the 6th form). They had certainly been educated and enlightened about other cultures; had lived happily enough in the inclusive and tolerant British culture - yet chose to revert.
I'm thinking about one girl in particular whose conversion to this medievalism shocked me - she had been a really nice, conversible, intelligent girl and we would all have said that the was a Westernised, British Asian. Then I opened the staffroom door to this figure swathed in black.........