Self-immolation

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This is an article on the ritualistic suicide practice. For the record company, see Self Immolation.

Self-immolation is the act of self-sacrifice by suicide. Literally, “immolation” implies suicide by fire, but the term also includes other forms of self-sacrifice [1].

Contents 1 History 2 Notable cases of self-immolation 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

Self-immolation, whilst not tolerated in anything but extraordinary circumstances by Buddhism and Hinduism, was practiced by religious or philosophical monks, especially in India, throughout the ages, for various reasons, including political protest, devotion, renouncement, etc. Certain warrior cultures also practiced it, such as in the case of Charans and Rajputs.

A number of Buddhist monks, including Thích Quảng Đức in 1963, self-immolated in protest of the discriminatory treatment endured by Buddhists under the authoritarian administration of President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam — even though violence against the self is prohibited by most interpretations of Buddhist doctrine. See The Copycat Effect (New York: Paraview Pocket-Simon and Schuster, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-8223-9).

[edit] Notable cases of self-immolation

Three Americans immolated themselves in 1965, in protest of the Vietnam War. The first was Alice Herz, an 82-year-old German immigrant who performed the act in downtown Detroit on March 16, 1965, prior to the University of Michigan Teach-in. The second was Norman Morrison, who performed the act outside of the Pentagon office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara after reading an article by a missionary about the destruction of a Vietnamese village by napalm. The third was Roger Allen LaPorte, in front of the United Nations building in New York City on November 9, 1965. At the time, he was a 22-year-old Catholic Worker Movement member. On May 10, 1970, 23-year-old George Winne Jr. immolated himself on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. He left a sign saying "In the Name of God, stop the war". See The Copycat Effect (New York: Paraview Pocket-Simon and Schuster, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-8223-9).

On 8 September 1968, Polish lawyer and former soldier of Armia Krajowa Ryszard Siwiec burned himself during an official Communist ceremony in the main stadium of Warsaw protesting against the Warsaw Pact intervention in Czechoslovakia in August 1968.

Five months later, in January 1969, Jan Palach immolated himself in Prague to protest against the recent Soviet military backlash against the reforming "Prague Spring" movement. A month later, another student, Jan Zajíc underwent self-immolation for the same reason.

On 19 September 1970, the Basque nationalist Joseba Elosegui set himself alight and threw himself at the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who was presiding over a game of the world pelota championship in the Anoeta court of San Sebastián. Elosegui was arrested and Franco was not harmed.

On 19 September 1970, Kostas Georgakis self-immolated in Matteotti square in Genoa, Italy, to protest the Greek military regime.

On 14 May 1972, Romas Kalanta self-immolated as a protest against the Soviet Union's occupation of Lithuania. This triggered a student uprising in Kaunas.

On 22 August 1976 East German priest Oskar Brüsewitz set himself on fire in front of a church in Zeitz, near Leipzig, protesting against the oppression of the Protestant church by the East German regime. Two years later, on 17 September 1978, the priest Rolf Günther followed his example in Falkenstein, Saxony, probably for the same reasons.

In 1979, During the trial of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, one person in Sargodha self-immolated.

On April 7, 1989, the pro-Taiwan independence publisher Cheng Nan-jung self-immolated rather than submit himself to arrest for having published a draft of the Republic of Taiwan constitution. His action was soon followed by the self-immolation of another activist during Cheng's funeral procession.

In 1990, Rajiv Goswami self-immolated^[1] in protest against implementation of job and University education reservations for backward castes to the extent of 27% in addition to the existing quotas of 22.5% in India, as recommended by the Mandal Commission. This sparked a series of the same by other college students and led to a formidable movement against implementing the policy.

In February of 1991, University of Massachusetts Amherst student Greg Levey set himself on fire on the Amherst, Massachusetts town commons in protest of the Gulf War.^[2]

In the 1980s several South Korean students also chose to self-immolate in the waves of mass protests against the country's then authoritarian government.

On October 23, 1996, West Philadelphian activist Kathy Change self-immolated to protest "the present government and economic system and the cynicism and passivity of the people," as she said in her suicide note.

On January 13, 1998, Alfredo Ormando dramatically set himself on fire in Saint Peter's Square to protest the Vatican's homophobia.

On January 23, 2001 a group of people self-immolated in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China. The group were allegedly practitioners of the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong; however, this is disputed by Falun Gong supporters, who claim it was a setup by the Chinese government as a part of the ongoing crackdown on the movement.

In 2003 six people set themselves on fire in the Czech Republic, with four dying and two suffering severe burns. Most of the cases were in Prague. According to suicide notes the reason was depression due to the contemporary situation of the world.^[3] Psychologists in the Czech Republic have warned that the frequent commemoration ceremonies for Jan Palach contributed to this phenomenon.^{[citation needed]}

On November 15, 2004, Mohamed Alanssi, a disgruntled former federal informant on terrorism set himself on fire near the White House. Secret Service officers put out the fire and Alanssi survived.^[4]

On October 31, 2006, retired minister Roland Weißelberg set himself on fire^[5] at a construction site in Erfurt, Germany. He died the next day. A letter written by Weißelberg indicated that he was protesting the spread of Islam, and urged Germany's Protestant Church to take the issue more seriously.

On November 3, 2006, Chicago activist, music enthusiast, and sound engineer Malachi Ritscher immolated himself alongside Chicago's Kennedy Expressway, claiming discontent with the United States' occupation of Iraq in his "personal statement", published on his website, SavageSound.com. Next to his body was found a videotape and a small sign, on which the phrase, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" was printed.^[6][7][8]

On December 22, 2006, a man in Bakersfield, California set himself on fire, along with a Christmas tree, an American flag, and a replica of an American Revolutionary flag, in front of the Kern County courthouse. He had a sign that said "Fuck the religious establishment and KHSD". The previous day, the Kern High School District, the apparent referent to "KHSD", had voted to change the names of their schools' winter and spring breaks back to Christmas and Easter breaks; authorities believe the man was protesting that decision. A sheriff's deputy who was manning security at the courthouse entrance saw the incident and extinguished the flames; the man suffered only first-degree burns.^[9]

On March 7, 2007 Uddhav Bhandari a Nepalese asylum-seeker living in Scotland set himself alight outside the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Centre in Glasgow. He had been refused permission to stay in the United Kingdom and was due to face an appeal hearing, which if unsuccesful would have seen him deported to Nepal. He died of his injuries on March 19.

[edit] See also

• Hunger strike
• Charans, a caste in India known for ever-readiness to perform self-immolation.
• Sati, an old custom in which a Hindu widow would immolate herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.
• Suicide methods

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Afghan women seek death by fire
• Mumbai: Protesting Tibetan attempts self-immolation
• The Copycat Effect (New York: Paraview Pocket-Simon and Schuster, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-8223-9)
• Afghan women seek death by fire