'Shoot me rather': Myanmar nun pleads with junta forces
10 March, 2021
Kneeling before them in the dust particles of a northern Myanmar metropolis, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng begged a group of heavily armed cops to spare "the kids" and take her life instead.
The image of the Catholic nun in a simple white habit, her hands spread, pleading with the forces of the country's new junta as they ready to crack down on a protest, has gone viral and won her praise in the majority-Buddhist country.
"I knelt straight down ... begging them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot me and eliminate me instead," she advised AFP on Tuesday (Mar 9).
Her act of bravery on metropolis of Myitkyina on Monday came as Myanmar struggles with the chaotic aftermath of the military's Feb 1 ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
As protests demanding the go back of democracy have rolled on, the junta has steadily escalated its make use of force, using tear gas, water cannon, rubberized bullets, and live rounds.
Protesters took to the roads of Myitkyina, the administrative centre of Kachin status, on Monday putting on hard hats and carrying homemade shields.
As police started massing around them, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng and several different nuns pleaded with them to keep.
"The police were chasing to arrest them and I was worried for the children," she said.
It was at that time that the 45-year-ancient nun fell to her knees.
Tawng, who runs a clinic in the city, said within an interview with Reuters that she experienced received assurances from senior officers that they were just clearing the street.
She and among the policemen were seen on video touching their foreheads to the bottom, but gunfire started soon later on.
"The children panicked and ran to leading ... I couldn't do not I was praying for God to save lots of and help the kids," she thought to AFP.
She also told Reuters that they "heard loud gunshots, and saw a young kid's head had exploded, and there was a river of bloodstream on the road".
Tawng said she tried to bring a few of the victims to the clinic before she was blinded by tear gas.
"Our clinic flooring became a ocean of blood," she said. "We need to value life. It made me look and feel so sad."
A local rescue workforce confirmed to AFP that two guys were shot dead on the spot during Monday's clash, though it didn't confirm whether live rounds or rubber bullets were applied.
On Tuesday, one of the deceased, Zin Min Htet, was laid in a cup casket and transported on a golden hearse covered in white and crimson flowers.
Mourners raised three fingertips in symbolic of resistance, as a good musical ensemble of brass instrument players, drummers and a good bagpiper in crisp light uniforms led the funeral procession.
'ALL MYANMAR IS GRIEVING'
Kachin, Myanmar's northernmost talk about, houses the Kachin ethnic group, and the website of a years-lengthy conflict between ethnic armed teams and the military.
Tens of thousands of experience fled their homes to displacement camps over the status - and among the organizations aiding them have been Christian groups.
Monday had not been Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng's first face with the protection forces - on Feb 28 she made an identical plea for mercy, walking slowly towards police in riot gear, buying on her behalf knees and pleading to allow them to stop.
"I contain thought myself dead previously since Feb 28," she said of the day she made the decision to endure the armed police.
On Monday, she was joined up by her fellow sisters and the neighborhood bishop, who surrounded her as she pleaded for mercy for the protesters.
"We had been there to safeguard our sister and our persons because she possessed her life at risk," Sister Mary John Paul advised AFP.
The town has seen frequent crackdowns from authorities since the coup, including a violent dispersal of peaceful teachers last month that sent several into hiding.
So far, a lot more than 60 people have been killed in anti-coup demonstrations about the country, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.
Fear works deep for Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, but she said she should be brave and will continue to operate for "the kids".
"I can't stand watching without doing anything, viewing what's happening before my eyes while all Myanmar is grieving," she said.
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