HYDERABAD: Nearly 250 kms from capital Hyderabad, barbers in Mancherial town in the northern Telangana have stopped their services to the local people. The reason is a person belonging to another caste, and from a neighbouring district, is trying to set up an upmarket salon in this bustling business town.
Following this news, the barbers, called "Naayee Brahmins'' in Telangana, have stopped doing haircuts, shaving and other services from the past two weeks, protesting the entry of this ``other'' person who doesn't belong to their caste.
While the man in question has halted his plans of setting up a posh upmarket salon and has gone back to his native place fearing a backlash, with each passing day, the protests are getting stronger and now there are relay hunger strikes on the protest site.
One of the protesting barbers, Srinivas said, "How can an outsider and that too not from our Naayee Brahmin (barbers) community can think of setting up a shop. Anyone who dares to do so will be chased out."
Over 1500 barbers with over 250 shops reside in this Mancherial town and all of them belong to "Nayee Brahmin'' community which traditionally from centuries is in this business and are known for it not only locally but in the entire Telangana.
"We serve not only to upper castes but also to every other caste. Our job is not restricted to haircut and shaving alone, our services are required from child birth to death ceremonies. Our women remove "maila'' (dirt) from the houses especially after ceremonies. Now would the upper caste women do that when their men are thinking of entering into our profession. Definitely not. Our caste and profession should be restricted to our community only. We are even ready to die for our cause,'' warns Krishna, another protesting barber.
Meanwhile, the local administration and authorities have not taken any note of this unique protest, even though during the elections, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao had promised numerous shops for the "Naayee Brahmin'' community.
The protesting barbers have even threatened to take the support of other barbers from all the 32 districts in Telangana if their demands are not met. They have stated that if the proposed solution isn’t adopted, then all the traditional barbers in Telangana would stop their services statewide.
At the other side of the story, it is the locals of Mancherial who are truly suffering. They have been visiting other neighbouring towns to receive barber services.
