UNIVERSITY OF HULL A Case Study of Death and Bereavement arising from Political Violence in Nepal being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The University of Hull by Sujeet K. Karn MA, MSW October 2012 Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 The Nepali State: a Historical Overview ................................................................. 6 Nepal before 1950 ............................................................................................. 7 Nepal during 1950 to 1990 ................................................................................ 7 Maoist in the Making........................................................................................... 11 Death during Maoist Conflict ............................................................................... 16 Deliberate and unlawful killings ....................................................................... 20 Meaning of Death in Maoist Revolution in Nepal ................................................. 21 Death - a sacrifice ............................................................................................ 21 Martyrdom ...................................................................................................... 22 Death bestows meaning on life ........................................................................ 26 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................ 27 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER 2 .............................................................................................................. 32 Death: Meanings and Perceptions .......................................................................... 32 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 32 Death – ‘Immortality’ in Hindu Religion and the East ........................................... 35 Death – a spiritual experience ......................................................................... 38 Death Rituals in the Hindu and the Buddhist Traditions ....................................... 43 Notions of purity and pollution in death ‘sansakar’ .......................................... 49 Death ‘sanskar’ – a cosmogony ........................................................................ 52 Death rituals among Himalayan Buddhists ....................................................... 54 Death studies and the Anthropological Imagination ............................................ 61 CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................................................. 69 Researching Politically Implicated Violent Death: Methodological Issues .............. 69 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 69 Qualitative Design: Mindfulness and Beyond ....................................................... 70 Ethnography and the study of Death and Bereavement ....................................... 73 Multi-sited Ethnography in Death and Bereavement studies ............................... 81 The ‘Sites’ in Ethnography ................................................................................... 89 Fieldwork sites ................................................................................................ 90 Engaging in field-Sites.......................................................................................... 91 Field Notes - Journal ............................................................................................ 94 Bara: a Field Site .................................................................................................. 98 Security a Major Concern .................................................................................. 100 Ethical Dilemmas ............................................................................................... 109 Being in the Field and Being Doubtful ................................................................ 111 Rukum: another Field-Site ................................................................................. 113 Interacting with Family Members ...................................................................... 117 Managing Emotions in the Field......................................................................... 120 Interviewing Children ........................................................................................ 121 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................ 128 Understanding Death in Post-Conflict Nepali Society ........................................... 128 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 128 Conceptualising Death in Nepal ......................................................................... 129 Understanding of Death in Nepali Context – a Typology: ................................... 132 Acceptance of Death ......................................................................................... 136 ‘Mrytu’ (death): ‘sarbabhut yathartha’ (ultimate reality) – the truth .............. 137 Timely death and untimely death .................................................................. 142 Death: a hope for a bereaved ........................................................................ 144 ‘Mrytu’ is ‘kaala’ – defined fate ..................................................................... 146 Rejection of Death ............................................................................................. 151 Akaala mrytu (untimely death) ...................................................................... 152 Death as an inflicted sorrow .......................................................................... 157 Death as ‘an accident’ ................................................................................... 159 Transcendental approach to Death .................................................................... 163 Body is ‘chetana’ ........................................................................................... 166 Death is a balancing act ................................................................................. 168 Death as Self-actualisation ................................................................................ 169 ‘Mrytu’, ‘mukti’ and martyrdom .................................................................... 172 Power to choose and sacrifice life .................................................................. 175 Death as revenge ........................................................................................... 179 Death as power to kill .................................................................................... 182 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 185 CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................ 189 Commemorating Violent Death: Ritual Perspectives and Practices ..................... 189 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 189 Rituals for death and dying ................................................................................ 192 Cremation rites.............................................................................................. 193 ‘Dasa-kriya’ karma ......................................................................................... 195 Barkhi and masik sraddha as regular rituals of remembrances ....................... 199 Variations in Death Rituals ................................................................................ 204 Contradictory rituals in troubled times: the case of a little know................... 205 Pranami sect.................................................................................................. 205 Death rituals of Magars: flexibility to choose ................................................. 209 Buddhist Tamang death rituals after a violent death ...................................... 212 Muslims’ way of mourning ............................................................................ 215 ‘Durgati’ of the Dead Body and Hasty Cremation ............................................... 217 Effects of ‘Dosa’ in ‘Sarddha Karma’ (Death rituals) ........................................... 222 Ritual Power and Local Politics .......................................................................... 226 Rituals amidst Fear ............................................................................................ 229 ‘Soka - Surta’ led to Ritual Confiscation ............................................................