Children burn guns for peace in Manipur
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COMMENTS 
Children burn toy guns in Thoubal district of Manipur in a protest against the violent culture imposed on them by more than 40 years of insurgency and suppression
With daily reports of violence in the troubled state of Manipur, parents, civil bodies, and like-minded organisations staged a demonstration in Thoubal district against the gun culture in the state and human rights violations.
In a symbolic protest, around 100 children, aged 6-7, brought their toy guns to Tangjen Ningthou school and set them ablaze with parents and local residents joining in. A sit-in protest was also held along Thoubal Tangjeng NH-39 urging citizens to “sit in protest against human rights violations and the gun culture”.
The protest was organised by district-based civil organisations including Life Care Foundation (LCF), Women Action for Development Centre (WADC) and Social Action Development Organisation (SADO).
Placards at the sit-in read: ‘No to gun, yes to peace,’, ‘Wake up 60 MLAs,’ ‘Abolish gun culture,’ ’Train police to investigate any crime properly,’ ‘Respect human rights in Manipur’.
The organisers distributed books, pencils and sports kits to the children to replace the toy guns. The gathering also unanimously agreed to ban the sale of toy guns in their respective areas.
There is a lot of anxiety in Manipur that children enjoy playing with toy guns; the trend has been attributed to prevailing social conditions in the state.
“The tendency to turn to violence is much higher among children and teenagers as they are exposed to all the violent activities like the security personnel displaying their arms around their respective camps, or underground groups releasing their various diktats through the media, and above all these factors are assisted by easy availability of toy guns in the state,” said Arunkumar, secretary of the LCF.
He added that insurgency was one of the biggest problems in the state. According to the 2001 census, Manipur has one armed security personnel for every 50 citizens.
Mandir Laishram, secretary, Social Action Development Organisation, noted that toy guns encouraged the use of guns. Playing with toy guns has resulted in many accidents with children getting shot in the eye, or fights breaking out.
In 2009, residents of Keinou village in Bishnupur district staged a similar protest against guns by burning toy guns collected from children and shops in the village.
The villagers said it was to save children from imitating combat fighters as that coloured their thinking and led them to engage in criminal activities.
Some 60,000 Indian paramilitary troops are posted in Manipur battling several underground groups in an insurgency that has lasted over 40 years and claimed thousands of lives. It resulted in the imposition of the much-hated Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Source: The Hindu, April 25, 2011
PTI, April 24, 2011
www.kanglaonline.com, April 24, 2011