Sunday, January 15, 2012

Self Immolation

  1. News for self immolation of Tibetan monks

    Telegraph.co.uk
    1. Clashes erupt after Tibetan self-immolates in southwestern China
      Channel 6 News Online‎ - 8 hours ago
      It is believed to have been the 16th self-immolation since March last year. The clashes between Chinese security forces and local Tibetans, including monks ...
      427 related articles
  2. Tibetan monk self-immolation death sparks protest in ... - CNN.com

    www.cnn.com/2012/01/10/world/asia/tibet-march/index.html
    5 days ago – Thousands of Tibetans took to the streets in western China early this week to commemorate a monk who died Sunday after setting himself on ...
  3. China: 'Tibetan monk's body paraded after self-immolation' | World ...

    www.guardian.co.uk/world/.../china-tibetan-monks-body-paraded
    6 days ago – Dead man is third Tibetan to set fire to himself in three days and 15th in last year in protests against China's rule. end quote from Google under the search for "Self immolation of Tibetan Monks"

    When I was a young man often Buddhist monks in Viet Nam would self immolate because of the Viet Nam War because it was a way for them to express their outrage at the war and the wars costs in human lives and culture. In the last few years once again this time Tibetan Buddhist Monks have been setting themselves on fire to protest how China is treating them and all Tibetan Buddhists and other Chinese minorities. 

    Then, what started Arab Spring was a man in his 20s in Tunisia trying to support 8 people in his family who was not allowed to sell fruit and vegetables. His vegetable cart was taken from him and he was refused a license to sell food to support his family. So, he set himself on fire to protest his treatment. This began the Tunisian revolution, the Egyptian Revolution, the Libyan Revolution, and the Syrian, Yemeni, and various other revolutions presently in progress in the Arab world and in other nations around the world.

    So, self Immolation is a non-violent (towards others) protest. So, what the person self immolating is saying is: "I am so outraged by what is happening that I have no recourse but to set myself on fire so all can see by my very painful death by burning that something is very very wrong." As people witness or hear about these kinds of events often they join in some way or another with the person who has been wronged in solidarity so the self immolators didn't die in vain. In many ways it is a non-violent protest which harms no one but oneself but might change the world in the end. Though I don't advocate that anyone burns themself to death, I can see how some situations might drive a person to this end.

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