Dalits in Gujarat have begun a social media campaign in support of the two men who were allegedly beaten up by members of the Rajput community last week for sporting a moustache.
On September 29, law student Kunal Maheria was allegedly beaten up by a person called Bharatsinh Vaghela in Kalol taluka, according to PTI. In his complaint to the police, Maheria said, “Vaghela told me that I cannot become a Rajput by just sporting a moustache.” Vaghela and some others verbally abused him and then beat him up with a stick, he told police. A police officer had also said that Vaghela was arrested.
On September 25, some members of the Rajput community had allegedly thrashed 24-year-old Piyush Parmar in Limbodara village, also because of his moustache. No arrests have been made in this connection yet.
In solidarity with the two victims, many men have posted selfies showing off their moustaches on Facebook and Twitter. The hashtag “Jaativad Murdabad” was also trending. Here are some of the photos:
On Sunday morning, a group of upper caste men had killed a 21-year-old Dalit man for allegedly attending a garba event in Gujarat’s Anand district. The main accused allegedly said that Dalits “do not have any right to watch garba,” and made other casteist remarks.
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