Aizawl: Undeterred by the feeling of being harmed and the hardships that he will go through during a long journey that too in a conflict zone, a 65-year-old man from Mizoram has embarked on an over 445 km-long walkathon mission to promote peace and harmony in violence-hit Manipur.
Lalbiakthanga, a resident of Lawipu on the southwestern outskirt of Aizawl, began a life-risking journey on foot to Manipur’s capital Imphal on Wednesday.
He was flagged off by Mizoram Journalists’ Association (MJA) president C. Lalrambuatsaiha in Aizawl.
With some clothes and eatables in a rucksack at his back and a staff fixed with a banner that reads “Peace for Manipur,” the sexagenarian was determined to promote peace and convey the message of love in the neighbouring state that witnessed violent clashes leading to the death of over 60 people and injuries to several.
He was deeply hurt and shocked by the ethnic violence that rocked the neighbouring state in the past few days.
“I was saddened by the recent violence and the continued tension in Manipur. So, I decided to embark on a walkathon mission to promote peace and communal harmony even though I know the risk. I don’t know why this passion struck me. I don’t even know if my family supports me because I did not tell them,” Lalbiakthanga said.
Some locals brand him as a true Mizo nationalist and a pacifist, who promotes peace and humanity through walkathons on several occasions in the past.
The farmer will have to cover around 445 kilometres in over two weeks to reach Imphal via Churachandpur.
He said that will sleep on the roadside whenever he is unable to reach human settlements for night halts during his journey.
He will pass through areas where militants are active.
The brave-heart but feeble old man said he will first arrive in Churachandpur town, which was one of the most affected in the recent clashes, and then proceed to Imphal depending on the situation.
Lalbiakthanga, who is still single, left his government job (IV Grade) in 1987.Since then he has lived on wages.
Originally from Sialsuk village near Aizawl, the sexanarian is an inmate of a housing complex for the urban poor constructed under the Centre’s Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme at Lawipu.
Last year Lalbiakthanga had covered 1,212 km in 40 days visiting at least 118 villages across all 11 districts of Mizoram in a walkathon mission to spread awareness in view of 75 years of India’s independence.
In 1997, he set out on a mission and travelled to at least 50 rural villages and spread awareness on environmental and wildlife protection among students.
He had also walked more than 200 km from Aizawl to Zokhawthar village on the Indo-Myanmar border to extend solidarity to the people of Myanmar and to restore peace in the coup-hit neighbouring country in March 2021.
The sexagenarian had signed a bond with a government hospital in Aizawl to donate his eyes and is also willing to donate his kidneys when he passes away.
He is also willing to donate his kidneys.
Violent clashes broke out in several parts of Manipur following the solidarity march organised by the hill tribals in Churachandpur town on May 3.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Monday told reporters that 60 people were killed and 231 others injured in the ethnic violence.
More than 1,700 houses, including religious places, have also been razed to the ground, he had said.