Myanmar Nun Begs Military To Kill Her to Save Protestors
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 spare "the children" and take her life instead.
On 1st Feb Myanmar’s strong military overthrew the government and imposed a military rule in the country.
After Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu kyi was arrested on 1 February, Protests demanding the military to step down have increased a lot. The people of Myanmar want the government to be incharge again. At least 56 people have been killed and 1,790 detained or arrested since February 1. On 8th March Protesters took to the streets of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state in Myanmar on Monday wearing hard hats and carrying homemade shields to protest against the military. The military then began shooting at them. Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng and two other nuns pleaded with them to leave. 45-year-old Sister Ann Roza Nu Tawng, who was clad in a white robe and black habit went and knelt in front of the military personnel. An image of her went viral on social media. She can be seen speaking to two policemen who were also kneeling.
In a telephone interview with Reuters (Reuters is an international news organisation) she said, “The military opened fire at the protesters. They then began chasing to arrest the protestors. There were children among the protestors as well. I was worried for the children. That’s why I knelt in front of the military. I begged them not to hurt the protesters, but to treat them kindly like family members. The military then fired at protestors who were behind her. Tear gas was used and I was struggling to breathe and I was dizzy, I heard loud gunshots, and saw that a young kid’s head had exploded, and there was a river of blood on the street. I'm very sad it happened as I was begging them.
I was shocked and I thought today is the day I will die. I decided to die. I told them that they can kill me and that I would not stand up until they promised me that they would not shoot or beat the protestors. The police were also kneeling. They told me they had to shoot because this was to stop the protest.” Sister Tawng said she felt sad as the police had assured her that they wouldn't shoot the protestors but then they went ahead and again started shooting. This is not the first time she did this. On February 28 she made a similar plea for mercy, walking slowly towards police in riot gear, getting on her knees and pleading for them to stop.
