The members of the washerman community on Friday expressed solidarity with the barbers who are on strike and closed their shops in protest against the setting up of a salon by a person from outside the community. Mailaram Srinivas, district president of Rajaka Sangham, opined that the barbers who were already reeling under crisis due to Covid-19 lockdown would lose their livelihood if non-barbers venture into their traditional occupation. He demanded that the State government intervene and take steps to prevent the entry of outsiders of the community into their age-old profession.
Meanwhile, Nayi Brahmana Welfare Association-Jubilee Hills unit president Jai Chandrashekhar and its general secretary Ch Santosh visited the agitating barbers and expressed their solidarity. As many as 25 members of Nirmal district’s Barbers Association including honorary president A Swamy and general secretary K Tirupati extended their support to the strike.
On the other hand, hair salons across the district remained close as part of the strike on Friday. They will remain shut on Saturday as well. The relay hunger strike launched by the barbers of Mancherial reached the 15th day on Friday. They are planning to take a legal battle with the outsider and approached a court that issued summons, asking them to appear before it.