Message of peace: Cycling across India for a wounded Manipur and terrible livelihood
Telegraph | 23 November 2025
A young Manipuri, some of whose friends are still living in relief camps and do not know when they can return home, is cycling across India with a message of peace.
Malem Thongam, 27, was in Calcutta on Saturday.
Thongam said she was not advocating for any particular community or people of any specific ethnicity, but for all Manipuris who have been affected by the strife that started in May 2023.
Point of no return
Her friends had their homes razed and have been living in the relief camps for two years. They do not harbour any hope of returning anytime soon, she said. “They are not hopeful of returning to their lands soon or being able to rebuild their homes. It seems like they are resigned to a life in the relief camps.”
Manipuri in Kolkata, a social organisation, hosted Thongam.
The conflict between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos in Manipur that erupted on May 3, 2023, has left at least 260 dead and over 60,000 displaced.
Speaking for all
“I am not speaking for any group of people. I stand here as a daughter of Manipur, a transgender activist, a survivor, and a seeker of peace. This is not a stunt. It is a cry from the soul of a wounded land,” said Malem, who set off on her 3,000km journey from Delhi’s Qutub Minar on October 2 with the banner Cycling for Manipur’s Peace.
“Women have been brutalised, children orphaned, elders abandoned, and persons with disabilities trapped in inaccessible relief camps,” said Malem, who hails from Koirengei in Imphal East district.
She started her tour to highlight the plight of Manipuris, to voice their helplessness.“I do not have the financial means to stand by my friends. So I decided to take their voice to the country,” she said.
Time in Calcutta
Malem has so far cycled through Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. She arrived in Calcutta on Friday and is scheduled to leave the city on Sunday. “We will next go to Guwahati and then to Nagaland and Manipur. We will end in Imphal,” said Selish Yumnam, who is accompanying Malem in her journey.
Manipuri in Kolkata has over 5,000 members. A bulk of Calcutta’s Manipuris are students or are working as nurses in hospitals, said a member of the group.
‘PM missing’
Gopeshwor Laishram, the president of Manipuri in Kolkata, stated that resentment was brewing among Manipuris about the lack of peace in their homeland. Another member of the group said he has not been able to make a single visit to his home since the ethnic conflicts in 2023.
“People are also angry and disappointed that the Prime Minister could not find time to visit the state in two years when people were dying and their homes were being burnt down. Something of far lesser scale happening in any other part of India would have drawn the attention of the rest of the country a lot earlier. But no one is bothered about Manipur despite this scale of devastation,” said a member of group.
Modi visited Manipur in September 2025 to flag off a slew of projects and met select people displaced from their homes.
Arrested 29 times
Malem’s protests demanding peace in Manipur have landed her in trouble time and again. She was arrested 24 times by the Manipur government and five times by the Union government for protests.
“I was merely demanding government intervention to bring peace to Manipur. There is still a lot of tension, and people are living away from their homes,” she said.
“People have come to me and tried to pressure me to withdraw my protests,” she said.
Malem also has her reservations about Sangai Festival, which aims to promote tourism in the northeastern state. It is being organised while peace is yet to return to Manipur. “The Sangai festival is part of the state government’s efforts to promote tourism in Manipur. It has its own noble intention. But I am not in favour of having the festival at a time when peace has yet to return to the stage,” said Malem.
The Sangai Festival is being organised after a two-year gap because of the conflict.