Caste discrimination in Tenkasi: SC men denied haircut in village salon following diktat from MBCs

CHENNAI: Scheduled Caste men of a village in Tenkasi District of Tamil Nadu have lodged a verbal complaint with the local Village Administrative Officer (VAO) that they were refused a haircut from a village salon.

In the complaint they said that this was due to a ban by the Most Backward Classes (MBC) communities in the village.

Ayyanarkulam Village in Tenkasi District is inhabited by SC, Backward Classes and MBCs.

Around 1,000 families live in the village and according to SC families they have to walk to a nearby village for a haircut.

The SC communities have yet to file a written complaint with the police as they fear repercussions.

A police officer at Alangulam police station told IANS that they have not got any complaint from the SC community members about such an ostracisation from the MBCs.

He said, “The police can act only on the basis of a written complaint.”

The VAO of Ayyankulam, Santhosh Kumar told IANS, “The SC community members frequent a salon at the neighbouring village as they were denied service at the local salon.”

An SC community member told IANS on condition of anonymity that the members of the MBC were forcefully not allowing them to get their haircuts in the village.

It may be recalled that in many south Tamil Nadu districts there have been several violent clashes between the Dalits and the intermediary castes, leading to casualties.

R Sakthivel, social activist and election analyst based out of Tirunelveli told IANS, “The police have to act in this case and settle the matter. This can boil into a major caste war and these areas of Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Madurai, Theni and Kanniyakumari are noted for attacks and killings in the name of caste.”