[Reader-list] On Suicide

[Aman Sethi]

I was quite surprised by the suicide of RSS sanghi Kuldeep Kumar as
well; it probably stems from my failure to understand the "situation
on the ground" in J&K.   While Aditya post identifies him as "Kuldeep
Dogra" - this morning's Indian Express refers to him as "Kuldeep
Kumar".  I assume he is Kuldeep Kumar Dogra.
( It is based on this report that I describe him as an RSS member.
The news report quotes one of Dogra/Kumar's relatives as saying "he
was a staunch RSS supporter"). The land issue doesn't seem like the
sort of thing to trigger off such a dire step; but neither does the
fear of failing at a CBSE exam - a suicide trigger that claims several
young lives every year.

Could anyone enlighten me on the cultural history of the practice?  Is
it related in any way to an idea of the after life, or the notion of
heaven? Of course one has heard of the highly ritualised and stylised
harakiri practice of Japan; and other practices like sati (which is
not strictly suicide - or is it?)

I remember reading that Kerala - India's own answer to Scandinavian
human development indices - has the highest suicide rate in the
country.  A rediff article -
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/15spec.htm (article reproduced
below) - claims that, In kerala, some 32 people commit suicide every
day! Of total Indian suicides, one half to three quarters are women;
compared to a global average suggests that men are three times more
likely to kill themselves. This again raises a number of disturbing
questions.

Other information on suicide suggests that anti-depressants like
Prozac might actually encourage suicide -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/758763.stm .

My grandfather once told me a relative of his who, as a young man,
witnessed the partition riots as a child; walked home and died of
trauma - could this be termed suicide - a point where - disturbed by a
world out of control - decides to abdicate.

Best
a.





On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 9:04 AM, inder salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> i am quite interested in suicides, but only if they are triggered by
> some psychological reasons
> , a normal suicide is triggered even  by a  simple failure in the
> school exams...which too is very important...
>
> a truly poltical person will  go for a sucide only if the casue is
> universal, but this kuldeep dogra (if one believes the news item )
> seems certainly a naive or a weakling ....  and if the hindutva world
> thinks kuldeep dogra a truly political hero and a real shiva devotee
> then they should construct a monument in his name and may be declare
> him a saint event.   i remember that  upper caste mr. Goswami who set
> himself ablaze for  Mandal issue, proved that his action was
> meaningless, and he was not a political minded person, ....some
> personal insecurity can cause the victim to go for such an extreme,
> ....in fact such minds are waiting for a spark, and that can come from
> any quarter...so imagine how many such suicides would have happened if
> the land was actually transfered. to shrine board in the valley.....
> Lord Shiva is happy in his heaven, all is well with the world....
>
> now why on earth some  richy rich Amarnath Srine Board member never
> thought about suicide.... why a noted name in Hindutva world  does not
> think about jumping from some mountain,  why it always an unknown face
> who decides to end his life.
>
> this applies to all religions, and that why only some young minds are
> won over by murderous  words and pushes the victim to this
> extreme....sad....i have sympathy for this young man, but what a
> misguided end.
>
> society is a strange set of cards, and we will never know what the
> other is holding nearer to her or his heart.... it is usually the
> poverty  which pushes a family to suicide, but even Marx noted in his
> personal diaries that casue of 'misery' sometimes can be other than
> poverty,..... of course the times were such that this kind of thought
> could not crept into his 'manifesto', but this has been extensively
> debated later on...
>
> i am yet to grasp the meaning of suicide.... and that is what made me
> to write about it in the first place
>
> with love
> is
>
>
>
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>
>
>
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>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 8:52 PM, Aditya Raj Kaul
> <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > *Activist commits suicide over Amarnath land transfer issue*
> > **
> > *Srinagar , July 23 (ANI):* A man in Jammu and Kashmir committed suicide
> > today, to protest the cancellation of the land transfer to the Amarnath
> > Shrine Board.
> >
> > Kuldip Dogra decided to give up his life to pressurise the State authorities
> > to accept the demand for the return of land.
> >
> > The Jammu and Kashmir Government was forced to back down on its decision to
> > transfer 100 acres (40.47 hectares) of forest land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine
> > Board (SASB) due to a week-long protest.
> >
> > Staging protests in Jammu , activists of Amarnath Sangharsh (struggle)
> > committee said if the authorities do not return the land more such
> > sacrifices will be made.
> >
> > During the two-month-long pilgrimage, thousands of devotees from all over
> > the country visit the cave shrine, situated at an altitude of 3,800 metres
> > (12,700 feet), to pray to Lord Shiva. (ANI)
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>
> --
>
> http://indersalim.livejournal.com
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