A Christian martyr may have been added to the long list of martyred Christians in South Asia due to a murder that took place in Myanmar. On March 18, three unknown attackers shot and killed Nammye Hkun Jaw Li, a 47-year-old Baptist pastor in the conflict-ridden northern state of Kachin.
Li, who was a husband, father of three, and a former executive in the Kachin Baptist Convention, was known for leading protests against drugs and the military. His actions had made him enemies who were willing to resort to violence. While the perpetrators remain unidentified, sources close to Li’s family have described the incident as an assassination, as reported by Radio Free Asia.
မတ်လ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့ နေ့လယ်ပိုင်းက ဦးခွန်ဂျော်လီ သူ့အိမ်မှာဖွင့်ထားတဲ့ ကွန်ပျူတာဆိုင်မှာ အလုပ်လုပ်နေတုန်း အမည်မသိ လူသုံးယောက်ရောက်လာပြီး ဝမ်းဗိုက်နဲ့ ဦးခေါင်းကို သေနတ်နဲ့ ပစ်သတ်သွားတာလို့ ဆိုပါတယ်။https://t.co/zaSywSg8i4
— RFA Burmese (@RFABurmese) March 18, 2024
A single account detailed the events that unfolded as the armed individuals made their way into Li’s electronics store in Mogaung township.
“Three men came and said they wanted to print on vinyl and shot him dead. They shot him in his stomach twice, and when he did not die, they also shot him in the head,” the person said.
If Li was indeed killed by gunmen acting on behalf of Myanmar’s ruling military junta, he would be considered another victim in the ongoing civil war between the junta and various regional rebel groups, such as the Kachin Independence Army. The junta seized power in February 2021, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Since then, the conflict has resulted in over 4,000 fatalities and forced nearly 3 million people to become refugees, as reported by The Christian Science Monitor. However, it is worth noting that rebel groups have made advancements this year, which could potentially explain the timing of Li’s apparent assassination.
“The resistance groups have never been so strong against the junta,” one rebel commander said. “There is some sort of coordination between the resistance groups, and we are working towards making it better and much stronger with one aim — to throw the junta out of power and restore democracy.”
The coordination of interests and objectives has always been a challenge in a nation with a diverse population of hundreds of ethnic groups. As a result, the future of Myanmar, whether democratic or not, remains uncertain. To truly understand the significance of this story, one must not focus on the future but rather on the past.
From the initial Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-26 to the period leading up to World War II, Burma was governed by the British as part of India. Burmese independence from British rule was achieved on January 4, 1948. Due to their long association with the British Empire, the people of Burma, now known as Myanmar, were introduced to Christianity.
While Buddhism is the predominant religion followed by nearly three-fourths of the current population of Myanmar, almost 8 percent of the residents are Christians. This percentage significantly rises in the northern regions. For example, in Li’s Kachin, approximately 34 percent of the population are Christians, as reported by the Union of Catholic Asian News. The military junta has specifically targeted Christian communities and churches in this area.
Similarly, according to The Christian Post, Christians make up the majority in Chin state, located to the southwest of Kachin. This has made the state a prime target for the junta’s oppressive actions. It is not surprising, therefore, that the people of Chin and Kachin states have risen up against the military junta that persecutes Christians.
