"I thought today is the day I will die. I decided to die," Sister Nu Tawng told the British newsgroup Sky News.

As Myanmar security forces cracked down on street protests on Feb. 28, Sister Ann Rosa Nu Tawng was determined to protect the people staging peaceful protests against the military coup.

"Just shoot me if you want to," said the nun.

She added, "the protesters have no weapons, and they are just showing their desire peacefully."

She recalled that security personnel told her to leave as she was in grave danger, but Tawng insisted she would not go away and was ready to die.

"I have prepared myself. I will give my life for the Church, for the people, and for the nation," she said.

She told Sky News that one of the officers came over to her and tried to calm her down. He pledged he would not to shoot the protesters, but Nu Tawng said she didn't believe him.

"I feel like they [the military] are not the guardians of the people," she said. "They are supposed to protect us but our people have to defend themselves. It's not safe."

At least 18 protesters were fatally shot in Myanmar on the day that Nu Tawng made her stand, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office.

The American Catholic magazine Crux has likened Nu Tawng's actions to Myanmar's "Tiananmen moment," referring to the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing, China.

Sister Tawng is from the Sisters of St. Francis Xavier congregation in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state. The Kachin are mostly Baptists and Catholics who have faced oppression and persecution at the hands of Myanmar's military for many years.

Sources

UCA News

Huffington Post

CathNews

The scene was reminiscent of the 1989 images of a lone man blocking a path of tanks in Beijing. It followed the Chinese government violently suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.

Sister Ann Nu Thawng, a member of the Missionaries of St. Francis Saverio of Myitkyina, knelt in tears before a row of police officers and security forces vehicles. She pleaded with them to stop the violence.

Since Myanmar's military coup began Feb. 1, the streets of the country have been lined with protesters. They have been asking for the reinstatement of their State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her National League for Democracy party.

In 2015, Myanmar, held its first free election in decades, resulting in Suu Kyi's victory. Many hailed her election as a step toward establishing a solid democratic system in Myanmar. The country was under military rule from 1962-2011.

The military defended its coup, accusing Suu Kyi and her party of failing to investigate voter fraud allegations in national elections. The NLD party won the November 2020 election in a landslide.

Cardinal Charles Bo, the archbishop of Yangon, posted several photos of the incident to Twitter, saying in a tweet, "About 100 protesters could escape from police" because of Nu Thawng's intervention in the Myanmar ‘Tiananmen moment.'"

Bo, who has been documenting the coup and the protests from his Twitter account from the beginning, sent several other tweets describing the situation on the ground. He tweeted in one post accompanied by striking photos of the protests that, "This is not the movie scene. This is reality in Myanmar today."

"The police used tear gas to divide the protesting crowd. They are young people fighting against the most brutal military dictatorship. Young people risk their lives to save other lives," he said in the tweet.

Representatives of the Catholic Church in Myanmar, which has been outspoken in pleading for Suu Kyi's reinstatement and a return to democracy, have also been active participants in the protests, with groups of priests and nuns marching through the streets carrying signs saying, "Save Myanmar," "Peace in Myanmar," and "Say No to Military Coup."

Myanmar's bishops have consistently advocated for peace and a refrain from violent measures since the coup began.

Sources

Crux Now

AJU News