Yangon – Kneeling before them in the dust of a northern Myanmar city, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng begged a group of heavily armed police officers to forgive “the children” and take her life. The image of the Catholic nun in a simple white habit, with outstretched hands, imploring the forces of the country’s new junta as they prepared to suppress a protest, has gone viral and won her praise in the predominantly Buddhist country. .
“I knelt down … asking them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot and kill me,” he told AFP on Tuesday.
MYITKYINA NEWS MAGAZINE / Reuters
His act of bravery in the city of Myitkyina on Monday came as Myanmar struggles with the chaotic aftermath of the February 1 impeachment of the army of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
As protests demanding the return of democracy have progressed, the Board has done so he constantly increased his use of force, using tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and live wheels.
“The world was crashing”
Protesters took to the streets of Myitkyina, the state capital of Kachin, on Monday with hard bars and homemade shields.
As police began to gather around her, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng and two other nuns asked them to leave.
“The police were chasing to arrest them and I was worried about the children,” he said. It was at this point that the 45-year-old nun fell to her knees.
OBTAINED BY ROUTERS
Moments later, while calling for restraint, police began firing at the crowd of protesters behind them.
“The children panicked and ran to the front … I couldn’t do anything, but I prayed that God would save them and help them,” he said.
He first saw him fall dead in front of a man who shot him in the head and then felt the tear gas.
“I felt like the world was crashing,” he said. “I’m very sad that it happened while I was asking them.”
MYITKYINA NEWS MAGAZINE / Reuters
A local rescue team confirmed to AFP that two men were shot dead during Monday’s crash, although it did not confirm whether live wheels or rubber bullets were used.
On Tuesday, one of the deceased, Zin Min Htet, was laid in a glass coffin and transported over a golden hearse covered in white and red flowers.
The bad guys raised three fingers as a symbol of resistance, as a musical ensemble of brass instrument players, drums, and a bagpiper in crisp white uniforms led the funeral procession.
“I already thought I was dead”
Kachin, the northernmost state of Myanmar, is home to the Kachin ethnic group and the site of a years-long conflict between armed and military ethnic groups.
Tens of thousands have fled their homes to displacement camps across the state, and among the organizations that help them are Christian groups.
Monday was not Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng’s first meeting with security forces: on Feb. 28 she made a similar plea for pity, walking slowly toward police with riot gear, getting on her knees and asking that paressin.
“I already thought I was dead since February 28,” he said of the day he made the decision to stand up to the armed police.
On Monday, she was accompanied by her sisters and the local bishop, who surrounded her as she begged for clemency for the protesters.
“We were there to protect our sister and our people because she had her life at risk,” Sister Mary John Paul told AFP.
The city has seen frequent crackdowns by authorities since the coup, including a violent dispersal of peaceful teachers last month that sent several in hiding.
So far, more than 60 people have died in anti-coup demonstrations across the country, according to the monitoring group of the Political Prisoners Assistance Association.
Fear runs through Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, but she said she must be brave and will continue to defend “the children.”
“I can’t stand and watch doing nothing, watching what’s happening right in front of my eyes while all of Myanmar is bad,” he said.