Dalits boycott Chhattisgarh upper caste

At a time when dalits elsewhere in the country have been subjected to social discrimination at the hands of upper caste people, their counterparts in a Chhattisgarh are seen in a role reversal.

Barbers of Hirapur in Balod district has declared the whole population of upper caste people in the village as “outcast” and boycotted them for not resolving an old dispute with them.

Reports said that the barbers in three villages — Parsuda, Khurthuli and Hirapur — in the gram panchayat took a decision to boycott the upper caste community over a minor tiff between two people, belonging to the two communities, in Hirapur village six months ago.

However, the warring communities in the villages of Parsuda and Khurthuli ironed out their differences. But people in Hirapur are yet to resolve the dispute, leaving the upper caste people to continue to face boycott by the barbers.

The upper caste people felt the consequence of the boycott on Sunday when they were to help each other to do hairdo while performing rituals on the occasion of death of a woman in their community.

Murti Bai (68) died on August 27, and the Sahu community in the village was observing tenth day of her death by doing haircuts.