Meet Malem Thongam: The Trans Activist From Manipur Who Cycled 2,300 km for Peace

In a journey that has slowly transformed into a national call for healing, dignity and reconciliation, transgender peace activist Malem Thongam, aged 27 and a resident of Imphal East, Manipur, arrived in Guwahati after cycling more than 2,300 km across north India. She is now preparing to complete the final leg of her mission—pedalling home to Manipur.

Malem, who set out from Qutub Minar in Delhi on October 2, has named her mission “Cycle Journey for Peace: Delhi to Manipur.” The journey, supported by communities, church bodies and civil society groups along the route, carries a message that is at once simple and urgent: every community longs for dignity, safety, and a future without violence.

A Journey Born from Witnessing Pain

Malem’s affidavit—executed before a notary in Imphal West—lays out her motivations with disarming clarity.
She writes of the fear, the blockades, the long queues for fuel, the inflated prices of food and medicine, and the slow strangulation of ordinary life in Manipur. The frequent shutdown of highways, she argues, has deepened suffering among farmers, daily-wage labourers, traders and unemployed youth.

Her journey, she affirms, is neither political nor sponsored. It is an act of conscience.

“I am exercising my constitutional right to free movement and peaceful expression,” she writes.“My approach shall be based entirely on dialogue, constitutional methods, and peaceful advocacy.”

States and Districts Crossed So Far

Malem’s journey, spanning Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam, has brought her in contact with thousands—from farmers on the roadside to migrant workers, church leaders, student bodies, tea garden communities, and police personnel who walk beside her in stretches to ensure safety.

Her travel map reads like a meditation on the country’s vastness:

Delhi to Faridabad → Hapur → Moradabad → Rampur → Bareilly → Sitapur → Lucknow → Prayagraj → Varanasi

Into Bihar: Buxar → Arrah → Patna → Mokama → Begusarai → Khagaria → Bhagalpur → Katihar

North Bengal corridor: Dalkhola → Jalpaiguri → Alipurduar

Assam: Kokrajhar → Bongaigaon → Nalbari → Guwahati

She has halted in several cities—Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Guwahati—to meet civil society groups, church representatives, women’s collectives, and youth organisations.

In Guwahati, the North East India Regional Bishops’ Council (NIERBC) issued a formal letter urging communities to support this act of courage, calling Malem “a courageous transgender activist and respected peace advocate.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers,” the NIERBC letter quotes the Bible, aligning her journey with a larger moral call.

The Road Ahead

From Guwahati, Malem’s final itinerary includes:

Nagaon (Dec 6), Dimapur (Dec 7), Kohima (Dec 8), Mao Gate (Dec 9), Senapati (Dec 10–11), Imphal (Dec 11/12).

She plans to conclude her journey at Imphal, where she hopes to deliver her appeal directly to state authorities and community leaders.

A Solitary Figure on a Cycle, Carrying a State’s Burden of Hope

Along the highways, truck drivers slow down to wave at her. Women in villages offer fruit and water. Students take turns riding alongside. Church groups host her in small guest rooms. Police personnel escort her through rough corridors. Everywhere she stops, she repeats the same words:

“Peace is not a demand. It is a basic right.”

In a time when Manipur continues to grapple with fear, displacement and fractured trust, the sight of Malem’s humble cycle—loaded with flags, documents, and a simple message of humanity—has quietly become one of the most compelling symbols of hope emerging from the region.

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