A National Democratic Force (NDF) candidate in Kachin state, Bauk Ja was honoured on February 17 by the Mid-Atlantic Kachin Christian Fellowship, according to an article on the Kachin News website.
As a spokesperson for a group of farmers who sued the Yuzana corporation for inadequate compensation for their land, Bauk Ja received national attention for her advocacy.
Bawk Ja, Khin Than Myint and comedian Zaganar were invited to the U.S. this month at the invitation of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). On February 8, they met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and updated her staff on their impressions of the situation in Burma. Speaking at a panel organized by the NED in Washington on February 2, she condemned the Burmese army's human rights abuses in ethnic areas.
In the November 2010 election, Bawk Ja lost to a military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party candidate after 13,255 votes were controversially declared invalid. She challenged the final vote count, but later dropped her challenge after the candidate, Ohn Myint, resigned his Lower House seat to become the federal Minister for Cooperatives.