It can be, but who’s to decide where the line between attention seeking and political protest is to be drawn?
Thoughts:
1.) Even if self immolation is considered legitimate
political protest, it is still inherently
attention seeking, because a protest that seeks no attention does not rise to the definition of a protest. Every protest, by definition, is attention seeking.
2.) The question seems to be rather or not this act, in the
internal mind of the perpetrator, is
primarily seeking attention for the self, or
primarily seeking attention for a larger cause.
3.) I'm not sure we can know, with certainty, the internal workings of of another person's mind... but we can often gives things an educated guess.
4.) I think this is a matter for the psychologists though... suicide seems to belong in the realm of psychology, not political punditry.
5.) So what would psychology say about self destructive behavior? I think we know the answer.
Mental instability does seem like the unavoidable conclusion:
Since this is such an extreme act of self destruction and nihilism, it does NOT seem like the act of a mentally stable person. Mentally healthy people don't engage in self harm.
If suicide is typically a cry for help, then this would seem to be an extreme cry for help.
Just my 2 cents.
I'm not the resident expert on self immolation... just trying to think it through.
God Bless.
.
.
.