A Christian leader in Myanmar revealed that the Burmese military purposefully attacked churches to discourage the faithful.
The Irrawaddy reported that the military regime which overtook the Myanmar government last year has caused a lot of destruction, especially to Christian and Buddhist structures. At least 100 Christian and Buddhist buildings located in Myanmar's northwestern, central, and southeastern areas have been ravaged.
A Karenni Christian leader, whose name was kept confidential for security reasons, told The Irrawaddy that the Burmese military or Tatmadaw would bombard churches randomly--even when there is no ongoing battle with resistance forces. The Christian leader stressed that the Tatmadaw would even attack churches located in areas far from combat zones.
"They are attacking the churches intentionally to suppress the spirit of Christian people by attacking their sacred churches. I condemn their bad intentions," he said.
In northwest Myanmar, the Chin State's worst-affected area is Thantlang, which was attacked by the military regime 26 times since last September. The attacks have driven people to flee Thantlang. On October 29, three churches in the town were burned. The fire was so big in the town that aerial pictures showed it was smoldered in smoke.
One of those who died from the attacks was a Chin pastor. The pastor went outside to help put out the fires sparked by the shelling of the military. But the pastor was shot by the soldiers who even cut his wedding ring from his finger.
Accordingly, the Tatmadaw targeted churches in the Chin and Kaya states out of frustration from not gaining control of the said areas. The Tatmadaw has been trying to conquer the said areas from Chin and Karenni resistance fighters but to no avail. This is even after the junta government tried heavy weapons and used airstrikes during the attacks.
The same thing happened in the Buddhist-dominated regions of Magwe and Sagaing, where armed opposition to the Tatmadaw is strongest in the country. Thus, the military attacked 30 Buddhist monasteries in Sagaing and 20 monasteries in Magwe. The monasteries were raided, looted, and burnt by the military junta last April 2021.
The military attacked again last month in Latpandaw Village, which is located in the Yinmabin Township of the Sagaing Region. Six people died from the said attack. This was after the said military attacked the Chin Phone Village monastery of the same town last February. The Tatmadaw used 80 primary schoolchildren at that time as human shields for almost two days.
As per the Chin Human Rights Organization, a total of almost 35 churches and 15 affiliated structures located in the Chin State were destroyed by the military from February 2021 to January 2022. While the Karenni Human Rights Group disclosed that almost a dozen churches were destroyed in the Kayah State.
Faithwire reported that Myanmar is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with the largest military, which is reputed to be brutal due to years of jungle warfare. Open Doors has ranked Myanmar the 12th in its 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christian persecution is high.
Christianity Daily reported last year that Christians in Myanmar needed the support and assistance of the international community to be liberated from the Tatmadaw. In response, President Joe Biden imposed a series of sanctions against Myanmar last month for the genocide they committed against the Rohingya minority and for their atrocities since the junta began.
Myanmar's appalling violations of human rights--killing at least 1,600 people with more than 12,500 detainees since the coup-have also drawn the attention of the United Nations.
"The appalling breadth and scale of violations of international law suffered by the people of Myanmar demand a firm, unified, and resolute international response," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said last month in a statement.
Bachelet pointed out that despite the "spiraling violence" of the military junta, "the will of the people has clearly not been broken."
