Patron of Shanni cultural committee killed, vexatious for Shanni communities
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NP News - June 28
The patron of Shanni Literature and Cultural Committee Than Phay was shot to kill on June 25 at an estimated 7 pm at his home located in Haungpa Village of Hpakant Township, Mohnyin District in Kachin State.
Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) and Shan Ethnic Affairs Society-Northern Myanmar released statements on this assassination.
According to the SNA’s statement, on the day he was murdered, the patron had an argument with the pastor from Namspain Village regarding building the signposts with the ‘Kachin Manaw logo’ at the entrance of the villages where Shanni ethnics are living including Namspain, Haungpa, and Tarmakhan villages. The victim disagreed on building the signposts with the ‘Kachin Manaw logo’.
“Literature and culture are the core fundamental elements for an ethnic or a tribe. If literature or culture is extinct, its ethnic or tribe is extinct. So, we will defend our culture and ethnic, and we will resist any organization which makes our ethnic extinct. We take that killing a patron of a committee of literature and culture means making efforts to us extinct,” Colonel Sai Aung Mai of Shanni Nationalities Army told the NP News.
Aggressive assaults on Shanni ethnics have been occurring since the establishment of the KIA in the territories where Shanni ethnics are the majority, the SNA statement says.
Regarding the incident, Shan Ethnic Affairs Society-Northern Myanmar (SEAS-Northern Myanmar) released the statement on June 27.
The victim was allegedly killed by the KPDFs – stooges of the KIA/KIO as the victim actively led in activities to open schools in the villages, according to the SEAS-Northern Myanmar. The group calls for the KIA/KIO to resolve the case ASAP.
Both statements say it is the responsibility of the organization which committed the assassination if any racial conflict arises.
On June 19, vice-president of Shanni Youth Network Sai Kyan Aung from Banmauk, upper Sagaing (territorially connected with Kachin State) was abducted by PDFs; he was then released on June 23.
https://npnewsmm.com/news/62baccc363a78d17ff3c13b2