Recently, a claim about discrimination against Dalits in Gujarat went viral in the media and also on social media. The claim was that after decades, in Alwada village of Dhanera in Banaskantha, Dalits were finally allowed to get their hair cut in the village barber shop.
The Times of India was the first to publish the report. After the TOI report, the issue was also highlighted by other national media outlets. Later, Gujarati newspapers also gave space to the news and wrote about discrimination against Dalits for haircuts.
The TOI report mentioned a person named ‘Kirti Chauhan’ and said that he became the first Dalit to get a haircut in the village. Writing that ‘it was an Independence Day-like atmosphere for the community’, TOI writes that all the five barber shops in the village were opened for Dalits for the first time.
It is further written in the report – ‘For generations, the 250 Dalits in a village of 6,500 people were denied access to the local barber and had to travel to another village, sometimes hiding their identity, for a haircut. But all this changed last week, when leaders from all the communities agreed to remove this unwritten ban.’
The report quotes an ‘emotional’ Kirti Chauhan, who says, “I am the first Dalit to get a haircut here. Ever since childhood, we had to go to another village to get a haircut. For the first time in my 24 years of life, I am feeling liberated and accepted in my village.”
The report then names activist Chetan Dabhi and a few others who are said to have stopped this ‘generations-old practice’. Village sarpanch Suresh Chaudhary is quoted as saying, “As sarpanch, I regret the earlier practice. I am proud that it ended during my tenure.”
The report quotes a man named Chhoghaji Chauhan as saying that he used to walk for miles to get his hair cut and that his father had also endured all this before independence. Referring to Pintu Nai, it was said that he said that he only followed the rules of society, but when the elders agreed, he also relaxed this alleged restriction and he said this is good for business as well.
After the Times of India published the report, other media organizations also immediately published reports with similar headlines. But an example of the quality of media reporting can be discerned from the fact that in some reports, Kirti’s name has been changed to Kiran, while in others, Kirti has been described as a woman. Some reports say that Dalits were allowed to cut their hair in the village for the first time after independence. Gujarati newspapers also published similar reports verbatim later.
BBC Gujarati has also published a report, in which they wrote, quoting some Dalit youths and the village barber, that Dalits were not allowed to cut their hair in the village and they had to go to another village. In the report, the local barber says, “We did not cut the hair of Dalits because there was a problem with the people of the village, but now a settlement has been reached and everyone’s hair is cut.”
What the sarpanch told OpIndia
When OpIndia contacted the village sarpanch and the local police officer, they denied these things and said that there was no question of caste discrimination. A Dalit youth from the village had a fight with the barber, due to which he had filed a complaint at the police station. Later, a settlement was also reached in the presence of the police and the sarpanch, and there is no question of discrimination, nor was there before.
The media has called Suresh Chaudhary the sarpanch, but in reality the sarpanch is his wife. Suresh told OpIndia that the reality is completely different from what has been written in the news reports. In fact, this was just an argument between two people, which was quickly resolved. It had nothing to do with any community or caste discrimination. Dalits in the village could always get their hair cut in the local shop.
According to the information given by Chaudhary, some time ago, a Dalit youth in the village called a barber at 10 pm and asked him to cut his hair, but the barber refused, due to which a fight broke out between the two. Later, the matter reached the police. After that, the sarpanch’s husband intervened and settled the matter. Later, the barber cut the youth’s hair. The matter was over right there.
There is no question of discrimination: Police
When OpIndia contacted PI Mahesh Chaudhary of Dhanera police station, he also gave the same information and completely dismissed the reports. He said that there is no such issue, Dalits have also been getting their hair cut in the village like everyone else. There was a small dispute between two youths, which was also resolved. The barber may have refused to cut the hair due to some personal dispute, but it was resolved later. There is no such thing as caste discrimination.
The police officer also said that he had also met people from the Dalit community and the people from the community also told him that they neither face any discrimination nor have any other problems. According to the PI, he also has videos of these statements with him.
The original Gujarati report can be read here.
