Story highlights Some Dalit men beaten up for sporting a mustache

Mustaches traditionally worn by men belonging to upper castes

New Delhi (CNN) Members of India's lowest Dalit caste are fighting against discrimination by posting "mustache selfies" on social media.

traditionally only worn by upper caste Indian men. The posts are in response to a string of violent incidents in which Dalits in the west Indian state of Gujarat were allegedly attacked for sporting mustaches --traditionally only worn by upper caste Indian men.

As a form of protest in response to the attacks, Dalit men across India have changed their profile pictures on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to an image of a mustache with a crown and the words "Mr. Dalit" below it.

Others are posting selfies on Twitter proudly twirling their mustaches, using hashtags such as #MrDalit, #DalitWithMoustache, #RightToMoustache and #DalitLivesMatter.

One of the Dalit men who was beaten up in Gujarat was reportedly told by his attacker that he "cannot become a Rajput by just sporting a mustache."

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