What is Self-immolation?
MELISSA
Self-immolation I believe, is one of the most interesting acts of protest, seemingly most common in cases where individuals aren’t happy with the political atmosphere. Thought, interesting it seems to be a favorite especially in many of the eastern countries in Asia. I think this could be one of their virtues, maybe because the Buddhist people believe in selflessness and a lot of history in their culture proves such acts of self-sacrifice for the benefit of a people or for some kind of greater cause. Looking at the cases of Self-immolation, it is quite true. There is much more to how killing happens and it involves more than just setting one’s self on fire, it goes way beyond that. In as much as there have been several cases of this sacrificial killing, it however seems to be popular only in certain cultures while other cultures seemingly condemn the practice I believe this is due to the values and cultural traditions, which most people keep no matter how awkward they may seem to others decide to keep. However, people interact and imitate, it looks like there is a lot to be done in places where people need to use their lives as a sacrifice to point out of the wrongs or injustices that might be occurring because the practice seems to be getting popular the world over and isn’t dying out despite its historical and ancient origin.
JASON
It is true that the act of self -immolation is a form of protest that entails setting oneself on fire, however its not limited to this. Much of the acts as mentioned have religious and cultural origin. Different religious believers have practiced it though it seems to be pretty common in Asia and more specifically with the Monks practicing Buddhism I believe this could be because of their long history of selfless acts, probably because they loathe oppressive acts that cause others harm. They would much rather suffer the pain themselves just to show that nobody else needs to get harmed. Immolation has led to some major changes in different parts of the world and its probably the reason why this act could be now spreading to different types of the world and it’s important to note that it didn’t originated from Asia specifically, its origins are in both the east and west.
QUESTION #2
DOUGLAS R (1)
I believe that self-immolation is indeed an act of terrorism. Terror refers to acts that are meant to create fear while at the same time endangering human life (Deutch, 1997). Protesting political injustices or political policies that one doesn’t agree with using this method of self-immolation should be in fact criminalized. It’s evident that just like any other act of terror it involves no negotiation, it’s meant to create fear as well as corner the person the message is meant for, finally aside from the psychological harm it has of people, it incites sympathizers who may probably continue with the practice creating a chain effect.
DOUGLAS R (2)
I don’t think that self-immolation is an act of terrorism as the Chinese government puts it because an act of terror should cause harm to another individual and in this case harm is only caused to the self. I personally think that these immolators only inflict self- harm to themselves so as to get attention as well as reach an aim of getting a listening ear for what they are protesting about. They however do not cause any harm to any one and their acts do not necessarily lead to a mass killing of other individuals. So, I personally do not think that it’s right for the Chinese government to consider these immolators as terrorist intending to cause acts of terrorism.
References
Deutch, J. (1997). Terrorism. Foreign Policy. Print. 108, 10.
