- "Drugs, violence, money and power - these are the
watchwords of our civilisation. The so-called democracy we gained is not
a democracy. It's about the rule of officials, money and treading on people.
The whole world is corrupted by money and is spoilt, depraved." --
Teenage Czech Suicide Victim
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- Disillusioned teenagers in the Czech Republic have been
setting themselves on fire in a spate of horrific incidents which mirror
the actions of a youth who died in front of crowds of people as he protested
against Communist oppression in 1968.
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- At least five teenagers have died, with 16 young Czechs
trying to commit suicide this year alone by dousing themselves in petrol
and setting light to themselves.
-
- Senior politicians have pleaded for an end to the incidents,
baffled by the young people's actions at a time when the Czech Republic
is set to join the European Union and is undergoing rapid modernisation.
-
- Jan Palach's ultimate protest was seen across the world
in January 1969 at the end of the so-called Prague Spring when thousands
of people rose up against communist oppression.
-
- A philosophy student, Palach was angered at the Czechs'
and Slovaks' apathy over the Soviet occupation of the country.
-
- Hoping to shake up his fellow countrymen, Palach marched
into Wenceslas Square on a busy weekday afternoon and held a lit match
to his petrol-drenched body. He died three days later from his injuries.
Several more people tried to repeat Palach's protest in the following months.
-
- The recent incidents come against the backdrop of high
unemployment, a weak economy and low wages. Just last month, a 17-year-old
boy covered himself in petrol at a Prague petrol station and turned himself
into a human torch.
-
- Student Zdenek Adamec also set himself on fire in front
of crowds of people in Prague's Wenceslas Square.
-
- Like Palach, Adamec's motive for killing himself in such
a dramatic fashion was to draw attention to the situation in the Czech
Republic. In a letter he left behind, the 19-year-old criticised the country's
government. Describing himself as "another victim of the democratic
system, where it is not people who decide, but power and money".
-
- He wrote: "Drugs, violence, money and power - these
are the watchwords of our civilisation. The so-called democracy we gained
is not a democracy. It's about the rule of officials, money and treading
on people. The whole world is corrupted by money and is spoilt, depraved."
-
- MP Jaroslav Moserova, a former doctor who treated Palach,
said he understood why young people took such drastic measures despite
the changes in the country since the 1960s.
-
- He said: "Back then it was different. Palach and
his contemporaries did it to shake up the conscience of this nation, and
their deaths were viewed with respect. Now the situation is not the same,
but people are just as desperate. There is a great deal of despair arising
among the young. All they see around them is war, unemployment and poverty."
-
- But Czech President Vaclav Klaus said: "I know that
our world is complicated and life is often painful. But life should be
considered a gift."
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- ©2003 Scotsman.com
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- http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1236292003
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