Yangon – Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng knelt before them in the dust of a city in northern Myanmar and begged a group of heavily armed police officers to spare “the children” and take her life instead. The image of the Catholic nun in a plain white habit, her hands outstretched, pleading with the armed forces of the country’s new junta as they prepare to tackle a protest has gone viral and has won her praise in the predominantly Buddhist country.
“I knelt … and begged them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot and kill me,” she told AFP on Tuesday.
MYITKYINA NEWSJURNAL / Reuters
Her act of courage in the city of Myitkyina on Monday came as Myanmar grapples with the chaotic aftermath of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s expulsion by the military on Feb. 1.
While protests demanding the return of democracy have penetrated, the junta has steadily the use of force escalated, using tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and live rounds.
“The world collapsed”
Protesters took to the streets of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, on Monday wearing helmets and homemade shields.
As the police gathered around them, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng and two other nuns begged them to leave.
“The police were on the hunt to arrest them and I was worried about the children,” she said. At that moment, the 45-year-old nun fell to her knees.
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Moments later, while pleading for restraint, the police began firing at the crowd of protesters behind her.
“The kids panicked and ran forward … I couldn’t do anything, but I prayed to God to save and help the kids,” she said.
First she saw a man shot in the head drop dead in front of her – then she felt the sting of tear gas.
“I felt like the world was falling apart,” she said. “I’m very sad it happened while I was begging them.”
MYITKYINA NEWSJURNAL / Reuters
A local rescue team confirmed to AFP that two men were shot on the spot during Monday’s collision, although it did not confirm whether live rounds or rubber bullets were used.
On Tuesday, one of the deceased, Zin Min Htet, was placed in a glass coffin and transported on a golden hearse covered with white and red flowers.
Mourners raised three fingers as a symbol of resistance, while a musical ensemble of brass, drummers and a bagpipe player in pristine white uniforms led the funeral procession.
“I thought I was already dead”
Kachin, Myanmar’s northernmost state, is home to the Kachin ethnic group and the site of years of conflict between ethnic armed groups and the military.
Tens of thousands have fled their homes to refugee camps across the state – and among the organizations that helped them were Christian groups.
Monday was not Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng’s first meeting with the security forces – on February 28, she made a similar request for mercy, walked slowly to the police in riot gear, knelt on her knees and begged them to stop.
“I thought I had been dead since February 28,” she said of the day she made the decision to take on the armed police.
On Monday she was joined by her fellow sisters and the local bishop, who surrounded her while pleading for mercy for the protesters.
“We were there to protect our sister and our people because she was endangering her life,” Sister Mary John Paul told AFP.
Since the coup d’état, the city has been regularly repressed by the authorities, including a violent spread of peaceful teachers last month, leading some to go into hiding.
According to the control group of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 60 people have so far died in anti-coup demonstrations across the country.
The fear is deep for Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, but she said she must be brave and will continue to stand up for “the children”.
“I can’t stand and watch without doing something, seeing what is happening before my eyes as all of Myanmar mourns,” she said.