TENKASI: People belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community in Ayyanarkulam village near Alangulam alleged that the members of a Most Backward Class (MBC) community are preventing hairdressers from giving them haircuts.
According to the SC residents, over 1,000 BC, MBC and SC families reside in Ayyanarkulam. “Of these, at least 50 families belong to the SC community. Since we are denied haircuts at the salon in our village, we visit the neighbouring Nallur village or Alangulam town.
This has been happening for many years. Recently, an eight-year-old boy hailing from an SC family went to the salon in our village. After making him wait for more than an hour, the hairdresser refused to cut his hair, stating that he was abiding by the instructions of the MBCs,” residents said on the condition of anonymity.
“People from the MBC community also asked us not to visit the salon and told us to get a separate hairdresser. The district administration must intervene and end this discrimination towards us,” they said.
Recently, the SC residents verbally highlighted this issue to the village administrative officer (VAO) and Alangulam police. However, fearing repercussions, they are yet to submit a written complaint to the police.
When contacted, Ayyanarkulam VAO Santhakumar told TNIE that SC residents are indeed denied services at the salon. “The SC residents always visit the neighbouring villages to get haircuts. These days, the youth of the SC community visit the salon in Ayyanarkulam itself, which has raked up the issue,” he added.
“We need a written police complaint to act against the discriminators,” a police official said.
Despite repeated phone calls, Alangulam tahsildar Krishnavel did not respond.