CHEN:
Hundreds of parents at a small village in India's insurgency-hit northeastern Manipur state burn their children's toy guns. It's an effort to wean them away from the influence of gun culture. Here's that story.

STORY:
Residents of Keinou village collected toy guns, symbolic of violence in the restive remote state and set them ablaze in a bonfire.

The motive was to make the children understand the fact that violence, guns and crime don't have a place in a peaceful civilized society.

[Marjit Khuman, Village Social Worker]:
"The main motive is to protect our children from these guns which are a symbol of violence. We do not want them to be associated with these things at all.”

The parents say that they did not find their children playing with toy guns fascinating any more. They do not want to pollute the tender minds with guns, even in the form of games.

The children too declare their hatred towards guns and say they prefer playing football.

There are around 15 rebel groups operating in Manipur, bordering Burma. About 10,000 people have been killed in more than three decades of violence.