- Lid sinds
- 24 aug 2009
- Berichten
- 21.819
- Waardering
- 12.367
Self-immolation persists as grim form of protest in Tunisia
Hundreds of desperate Tunisians have set themselves on fire over the past 10 years in an act of protest, following the example of 26-year-old fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation in 2010 led to the downfall of Tunisia’s dictator of 23 years.
... distraught about abuse and injustice he’d suffered at the hands of a local police chief — Kalaia doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire.
He's among hundreds of Tunisians who have turned to the desperate act of self-immolation in the past 10 years, following the example of Mohammed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old fruit seller in the town of Sidi Bouzid who set himself ablaze on Dec. 17, 2010, to protest police harassment.
Bouazizi's gruesome death unwittingly unleashed mass demonstrations against poverty and repression, leading to the downfall of Tunisia’s dictator of 23 years; that in turn sparked the Arab Spring uprisings and a decade of crackdowns and civil wars across the region.
Heeft me altijd gefascineerd, vanuit spiritueel en karmisch oogpunt.
“I’m not going to tell you I regret waking up, but dying would have been better," Kalaia says, dragging on a cigarette. “Nowadays, I don’t think about killing myself another time, but I ask God for death because I’m so tired.”
..
In 2014, Kalaia’s mother, Zina Sehi, now 68, tried to burn herself to death in front of the president’s palace in Tunis, protesting the government’s lack of support for the family. The next year, his 35-year-old brother Saber did the same, dying instantly. Kalaia blames himself for their actions.
The Quran forbids suicide, and many Muslim societies regard it as taboo. This does not prevent hundreds of Tunisians attempting it every year.

