In A First, Barbers In UP Village Cut Hair Of Valmikis

For the first time in Sambhal’s Fatehpur Shamshoi in Uttar Pradesh, barbers opened their shops and cut the hair of Valmikis in the village.

The barbers here had shut their shops last month in protest after they were asked give haircuts to Valmikis, which had never happened in the past, according to a report in The Indian Express.

 There are around 200 Valmikis reside in Fatehpur Shamshoi, which has a population of around 1,500 Thakurs and Brahmins each. Some Muslims and members of the barber community, known as Nai, run barber shops in the village.

 For decades, Valmikis were allegedly not been allowed to get haircuts from the village barbers because upper castes had declared that if the Dalits were given haircuts they would not get haircuts from the “impure” implements. Valmiki men have had to travel 15 to 20 km to towns to get haircuts, Times of India reported.

 Fed up of being denied haircuts, Valmikis had threatened to convert to Islam, citing the recent agitation by Dalit leaders over oppression in Uttar Pradesh.

 On Monday afternoon, national president of Valmiki Dharam Samaj, Lalla Babu Dravid, and other community leaders reached the village and called a panchayat . Dravid gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the upper castes in the village to reserve the diktat, or the community would leave the Hindu fold.

 "After our long struggle, the Valmikis of this village finally got haircuts in their own village. But that doesn't mean we have withdrawn our decision to denounce Hinduism because Dalits in adjacent villages such as Nehta, Akroli and Vijaypur still can't get haircuts in their own areas," Dravid told the newspaper.

 According to The Indian Express, around two months ago, a Muslim, Asif Mahboob, had opened a barber shop and announced that he would cut everyone’s hair. Following this, a group of Valmiki men got haircuts in his shop. Later, Mahboob refused to cut the hair of Valmikis, allegedly under pressure of losing his upper caste customers.

 Following this, a local, Viresh Valmiki, lodged a complaint with the police against four barbers, who had allegedly turned him away from their shops. This eventually led all the barbers to shut shop.

 “The shops were closed for about a month because involvement of outsiders had caused a problem. We decided to resolve the issue, as it was giving a bad name to the village. About 15 Valmikis got haircuts on Tuesday. The barbers were told that if they are running their shops, they will have to provide service to everyone, who comes to their shops. The barbers have accepted this,” said Chhotelal Diwakar, local Samajwadi Party leader and husband of village pradhan Kamlesh told the daily.

 Denouncing the allegations, upper caste representatives said: "These charges are baseless and politically motivated. The real problem is between the Valmikis and the barbers. The upper castes have nothing to do with this. We tried to talk to the barbers' families about this," said former village pradhan Sanjeev Sharma.