Transgender Manipuri activist cycles across states to spread message of peace after ethnic violence

Kolkata, Nov 22 (PTI) Transgender Manipur social activist Malem Thongam, who embarked on a 3,000 km journey on a cycle from Delhi, reached West Bengal after crossing several states to spread the message of peace that her state badly needs after ethnic violence rocked it since 2023.

Thongam began her journey on October 2 and pedalled across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. She will pass through Assam, Nagaland and finally Manipur, her home state.

Humanity should prevail over differences in religion, caste, community and ethnicity, she told PTI on Saturday.

"I stand before you as a Manipur-transgender activist, a survivor and a seeker of peace. On October 2, 2025, I began a 3,000 km journey from Qutub Minar, cycling across India for Manipur's peace, said Thongam.

Ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities began in May 2023, and it claimed over 260 lives besides rendering thousands of people homeless.

"This is not a stunt. It is a cry from the soul of a wounded land. It is a pilgrimage for healing and unity, as for months after May 3, 2023, Manipur had been engulfed in a humanitarian catastrophe-ethnic violence, displacement and destruction,” she said.

Over 60,000 people have been internally displaced, villages have been razed, women brutalised, children orphaned, elders abandoned and differently-abled persons trapped in relief camps, said Thongam.

"My message to the people of West Bengal as well as the people of other states falling along my route: Let us uphold the message of dignity, inclusiveness for a peaceful Manipur," Thongam, who belongs to the Meitei community, said.

She urged India and the world not to look away. “Let Manipur be seen. Let Manipur be healed - in strength, in truth and in hope." Tracing the months before the commencement of the journey, Thongam began a hunger strike on February 22, 2024, in New Delhi, demanding an end to the ethnic violence.

She was initially detained by police, but she resumed her fast at a gurdwara near Connaught Place after release. Her demands included Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direct Intervention. In March last year, she went to Imphal's Kangla West Gate and sat in protest for over 50 days, fasting and calling for peace.

Narrating the overwhelming and poignant response she received everywhere along the route, Thongam recalled, "In Sitapur district (of UP), I was received by the district hospital's medical team and a police contingent, who welcomed me and expressed their solidarity.” In Patna, people carrying placards for peace, encouraged her, she said, adding that she prayed at Patna’s Jama Masjid, calling for healing across communities and interfaith unity.

"We wish free movement across highways and interstate roads to continue unhindered like in the past," Thongam said.

There were instances in Manipur, in which members of one community were not allowed to move on roads near areas where the other one is in the majority.

To a question, she said, "We don't want to fight between communities. If they want anything, it is from the government." The activist said she did not receive any threat from any community before launching her peace mission.

"Those incidents which struck our beautiful state in those dark days keep haunting me. But I only wish all communities stay together," she said in Meitei language, translated into English by an interpreter.

To another query, about support from the transgender community, Thongam said, "Every citizen, that also includes transmen and transwomen, supported me as well as members of the community from other countries who have also pledged their support." PTI SUS NN