In Muzaffarnagar village, it’s ‘no service’ for Dalits in salons

Muzaffarnagar: Eighty kilometres from the national capital, in Bhoopkhedi, a sleepy village of Muzaffarnagar, Dalits are barred from getting a hair cut in public salons.

The Dalits allege that if a barber dares defy the order, which they say comes from upper caste Thakurs in the village, he has to face their wrath and shut shop.

Humiliating ‘tradition’

The humiliating ‘tradition’ which has been followed for generations is now a source of conflict, as young Dalits have started resisting.

They held a panchayat on Monday demanding that it be scrapped.

“Dalits do not have the freedom to get a shave or hair cut in normal hair saloons. If some barber tries to break this upper caste diktat, he has to either shut shop or face their goons,” said Harish Kumar, a Dalit resident, lamenting the denial of “equal opportunity and dignity”.

Asked how his fellow community members managed, Kumar said they went outside the village to get groomed.

“We grew up seeing local barbers refuse and making up some excuse or other. Some openly say Thakurs have prohibited them from serving Dalits. Our ancestors did not speak out but we cannot tolerate this undignified practice any more. All we want is equal treatment which is guaranteed by the Constitution,” asserted Kumar a manual labourer in his thirties.

Ram Phool, who is Kumar’s neighbour, said the unwritten rule resulted in the overall boycott of Dalits in the village.

Fights, threats every day

“Our sons and daughters do not get marriage offers due to this discriminatory rule which is well known outside,” said Phool, a daily wage earning farm worker.

Sheru Hajjam is a barber who used to own a shop in the village but shut it down due to daily fights and threats.

“It used to be a daily nuisance. Every time some Dalit would come to my shop, I had to refuse to serve because of the pressure from this diktat.

The District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar, Dinesh Kumar Singh, has ordered a probe into the matter.

“I have come to know about this issue only from you. This is a completely wrong practice. We will not allow something like this to go on any more. I have ordered a probe and will take action against those responsible for this discriminatory diktat,” he told The Hindu.

Source: The Hindu