The image of this man, an MLA from Thanlon Constituency, Lamka, Zogam, features frozen in an eternal, haunting mask of terror and disbelief, stands as a gut-wrenching testament to a life shattered by the unbearable weight of human cruelty. On that catastrophic afternoon of May 4, 2023, in the Imphal Valley, he endured far more than the physical brutality of the blows rained upon him. His driver was killed at the location by the brutal hands of the strong men and women from Imphal. He was forced to carry the agonizing burden of a hatred so profound and senseless that it defied human understanding. In that moment, the world as he knew it collapsed, replaced by a darkness that would never truly lift.
The image of his face is a jagged, screaming map of human depravity, a sight that should shatter the soul of anyone who dares to look. Look at him; really look at him and see how he was not merely mocked but systematically unmade. A horrific scar, the brutal signature of a wooden blow, carved a path of agony from his left cheek to his right, a permanent brand of malice left by those who saw his humanity as a playground for their cruelty. The sheer, explosive force of that strike was so violent, so absolute, that it forced his eyes to bulge in a state of perpetual, frozen shock, as if his very body was trying to recoil from a reality too hideous to witness.
Oh God, what a blow that must have been—a strike intended not just to hurt but to hollow out a man’s dignity and replace it with terror. It is a sickening reflection of a soul-deep rot; what possible pride can be found in such a monstrous act? To strike a fellow human with such calculated ferocity, to watch the light of peace extinguished by the shadow of a wooden hand, is not a victory—it is a spiritual suicide. What hollow, twisted sense of power must one possess to find glory in the physical disintegration of a brother? It is a “rise by sin” so steep that it leaves the perpetrator standing on a mountain of shame, while the victim is left to carry the physical and emotional residue of that valley’s shadows until his final breath.
Look at him; really look at him and see how he was not merely mocked but systematically unmade. A horrific scar, the brutal signature of a wooden blow, carved a path of agony from his left cheek to his right, a permanent brand of malice left by those who saw his humanity as a playground for their cruelty.
There is no glory here, only a profound and tear-filled tragedy that stains the very ground of the Imphal Valley. His bulging eyes remain a haunting, silent accusation against a world that watched his features be etched with the weight of a hatred he never invited. We are left to weep for a man whose final months were a slow, agonizing erosion of spirit, a life wearying under the memory of that wooden hand until his heart could simply no longer go on. May the sanctuary he was so violently denied in life finally embrace him now, far beyond the reach of those who mistook cruelty for strength and malice for pride.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
the most massive characters are seared with scars,
― Kahlil Gibran
Today, as he passes away, we are left to weep for a soul that spent its final months navigating a desolate landscape of trauma. Every breath he drew since that day was a quiet struggle against the suffocating memory of those who saw his very identity as a justification for malice. His passing is not merely a medical conclusion but a fresh, bleeding wound in the heart of the Zo community. It serves as a devastating reminder that the scars of hate are not skin-deep; they settle into the marrow, wearying the heart and eroding the spirit until the body can no longer sustain the weight of its own grief.
There is a profound, tear-filled tragedy in the reality that he carried the physical and emotional residue of those valley shadows until his very last moment. His death is the final, echoing cry of a victim who deserved safety, dignity, and a long life of peace but was instead met with a “gesture of hate” that will forever stain the collective conscience of a Zo society that failed him. We mourn for the family who watched their loved one slowly fade, his light extinguished by the trauma of a world that turned its back. May his soul finally find the sanctuary and the silence that the world so cruelly and violently denied him.
A “gesture of hate” that will forever stain
the collective conscience of a Zo society.
We stand in solemn mourning and righteous indignation at the passing of a soul whose life was not merely taken by time but systematically eroded by the weight of unaddressed cruelty. This man, a standing MLA from Thanlon Constituency, Lamka, Zogam, whose face became an indelible symbol of the terror unleashed in the Imphal Valley on May 4, 2023, has finally succumbed to a darkness no human should ever have to inhabit. His death is the ultimate indictment of a society that allowed a “gesture of hate” to transform into a permanent state of trauma, leaving a victim to navigate his final months in a desolate landscape of fear and brokenness.
“Suffering ceases to be suffering
at the moment it finds a meaning.” ― Viktor E. Frankl
The physical blows he endured were but the beginning of a slow, agonizing erosion of spirit. We grieve for the Zo community, which now carries this fresh wound as a reminder that the scars of identity-based malice settle deep within the marrow. His passing is a testament to the fact that when justice is delayed and safety is denied, the heart eventually wearies until it can no longer sustain the burden of its own grief. We refuse to let his final silence be forgotten; his death is the echoing cry of a man who deserved dignity, sanctuary, and a long life of peace, all of which were cruelly stripped away.
He endured far more than the physical brutality
4th May 2023, near the ex-CM Biren Singh’s residence, Imphal
of the blows rained upon him.
We demand that this loss be recognized not as an isolated tragedy, but as a “rise by sin” that has caused a virtuous man to fall. We call upon the conscience of the nation to acknowledge the permanent trauma inflicted upon our brothers and sisters and to ensure that the shadows of the valley do not claim another life. We stand with the family who watched their loved one fade, and we pledge that his memory will serve as a haunting mandate for justice. May his soul finally find the peace that the world so violently denied him, and may our collective mourning fuel the pursuit of a world where such a stolen peace never happens again.
