Many Killed and Displaced A

ccording to a report authored by the Baptist World Alliance® and American Baptist Churches USA (ABC USA), more than

60 churches and approximately 200 villages have been destroyed by the military in Myanmar (Burma). The report claimed that “hundreds of civilians, mainly Baptist

Christians, continue to suffer under the offensive attack of the army” in Kachin state, the northern most region of Myanmar, which borders China. Christianity is dominant among the Kachin, one of three main

ethnic groups from which the state gets its name. Most Kachin are Baptist Christians and are affi liated with the Myanmar Baptist Convention, a member organization of the BWA. The report, which was submitted to the United Nations

Offi ce of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), claimed that “nearly 70,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced People) are trapped between the Burma-China border, causing a humanitarian crisis.” The BWA and ABC USA report that both “the Burmese military and the Chinese government have blocked the UN

and international aid agencies from distributing aid to the IDP camps.” Thousands of IDPs are “without adequate food, shelter, clothing, sanitation and access to healthcare.” There is continued tension between the government of

Myanmar and Kachin state. The state has a history of agitating for independence from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma up until 1989. Renewed fi ghting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar army began in June 2011 and continued throughout 2012, as a result of the Myanmar government’s pressure on the Kachin Independence Organization/Army to transform itself into a border guard force. Most recent estimates put the death toll at 1,000 persons in what some refer to as a civil war.

Representatives of the Kachin Alliance, which also

contributed to the report, visited the offi ces of the BWA and gave details of the ongoing confl ict. The Kachin Alliance is a network of Kachin communities and organizations across the United States formed to advocate for the rights, equality, and freedom of the Kachin people. They presented documented evidence, including picture slides, of churches and villages destroyed as well as human casualties. The Kachin group, accompanied by representatives of the

BWA and ABC USA, traveled to the UN offi ces in New York in February and met with OHCHR. The BWA will continue to closely monitor the situation in

Myanmar. In Memoriam continued

business republished Baptist World, the quarterly magazine of the BWA, making it available in India, Bhutan, Nepal and other countries in South Asia. He was honorary pastor of the Howrah

Baptist Church in Kolkata for more than 20 years. More than 30 years ago, he founded

30 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

Above and left: Members of the Kachin Alliance who visited the offi ces of the BWA and gave details of the ongoing confl icts in Kachin state in Myanmar

a school for children of slum dwellers in Kolkata. Patnaik is a former member of the

Board of Trustees of California Bapti st University in the US. He was actively involved with Gideons International and other organizations.

Memorial services were held on

February 18 at Carey Baptist Church in Kolkata and on February 23 at First Baptist Church in Redding, California. Burial was in Kolkata. He is survived by wife Conica, son, Rajiv and daughter, Ritika.