Caste discrimination: Dalits are not allowed to go to salon in this village of Tamil Nadu, know the pain of the community

Ayyanarkulam village has 50 families belonging to the SC community who are refused permission to get their hair cut in salons, so they have to go to nearby Nallur village or Alangulam town.

Published on: 23 Apr 2024, 12:23 pm

Tenkasi – People of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in Ayyanarkulam village near Alangulam in Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu allege that members of the Most Backward Class (MBC) community are stopping hairdressers from cutting their hair.

According to members of the Dalit community here, more than 1,000 BC, MBC and SC families live in Ayyanarkulam. “At least 50 of these families belong to the SC community. Since we are refused to get hair cut in salons in our village, we go to neighboring Nallur village or Alangulam town.

According to a report published in The New Indian Express, this has been happening in this village for many years. “Recently, an eight-year-old boy from a Scheduled Caste family in our village went to the salon. After making him wait for more than an hour, the hairdresser refused to cut his hair, saying that he was not following the instructions of the MBC. Is doing,” residents told the media on condition of anonymity.

“People from the MBC community also told us not to go to salons and asked us to hire a different hairdresser. The district administration should intervene and end this discrimination against us,” he said.

Recently SC residents verbally informed the Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and Alangulam Police about this issue. However, fearing the consequences, he has not yet given a written complaint to the police.

When contacted, Ayyanarkulam VAO Santhakumar told TNIE that SC residents are in fact denied services at the salons. “Scheduled caste residents always go to neighboring villages for haircuts. These days, youth from the SC community visit salons in Ayyanarkulam itself, which has given rise to the issue,” he said.

“We need a written police complaint to take action against those who discriminate,” said a police officer.

An attempt was made to contact Alangulam Tehsildar Krishnavel for more information on this matter but no response was received.