'Ciminal incidents linked to farmers having idle time': Samyukt Kisan Morcha protests Bihar ADG's colonial mindset
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has issued a strong condemnation of remarks made by Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Vinay Kumar and Additional Director General (ADG) (Headquarters) Kundan Krishnan, who suggested that an increase in criminal incidents during the agricultural lean period from April to June is linked to farmers having "more idle time." The SKM labeled these comments as "discriminatory labelling of farmers" and a reflection of a "colonial mind-set."
In a press release issued from New Delhi, the SKM announced that its Bihar state committee has called for the burning of effigies of ADG (HQ) Kundan Krishnan and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on July 22, 2025, at district, sub-divisional, and block centers across Bihar. This action is demanded as a punitive measure for the removal of the said officer from his current post.
The SKM criticized the police officials' statements as an attempt to "hide their incompetence and abject failure in fighting crime." The organization highlighted recent crime statistics in Bihar, stating that in the past 25 days, 51 people have been killed in the state, with 14 murders occurring in the capital city of Patna alone. This, the SKM asserts, points to a severe breakdown of law and order under the Nitish Kumar-led NDA Government, which they describe as a "disaster" in maintaining public safety.
"The gross allegation against the farmer community as a whole as criminals has attracted widespread condemnation and protest in Bihar and also across India," the press release stated. The SKM also noted the political significance of the issue, pointing out that neither Chief Minister Nitish Kumar nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Bihar yesterday, condemned the "insult" to farmers by the top police officer.
Drawing a parallel to historical injustices, the SKM remarked that such an "unjustifiable attack on farmers exposes the colonial mind-set." They invoked the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, a British colonial legislation that "designated certain ethnic and social groups as 'criminal tribes'." The SKM recalled that this "notorious law was imposed in the context of the Santhal Pargana Revolt of 1855-56 under the heroic leadership of Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu brothers against colonial suppression." Under this Act, tribal communities were "presumed to be inherently prone to crime and were subjected to restrictions on their movement, social interactions, and economic activities," creating a "presumption of guilt based on tribal or caste affiliation." The Act was eventually repealed in 1949.
The SKM emphasized the historical role of the united kisan movement in resisting policies that "devastate agriculture, industry, and services." They reminded the public that the united kisan movement "forced the Modi Government to drop the Land Acquisition Ordinance of 2014" and that the "historical farmers' struggle at Delhi borders under the banner of SKM actively supported by the working class had forced the Prime Minister Modi to publicly apologise and repeal the infamous 3 Farm Acts."
The organization apprehends that the recent remarks are part of "nefarious designs to chastise the farmers’ movement as criminals and enact law to unleash attack on the Kisan Movement." The SKM concluded by demanding that BJP President J.P. Nadda "explain to the public the party's stand on the wild allegations made on farmers by the Bihar Police administration."
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