Twilight Zones and the Cultural Production of Violence in Nepal

Abstract

In 1988, Hyonju, an ex-M.P. (Member of Parliament) was dragged through the streets of his home town in Bhaktapur, Nepal, to eventual death following accusations that he was misappropriating relief items in the wake of natural disaster.  Rumors of corruption were common features of political life in Nepal, however the ritual killing of the accused was not.  The purpose of the following study is to investigate the historical preconditions to Hyonju’s death, beginning with the emergence of the Nepali nation-state in the late 1700s and concluding with the country’s growing disenfranchisement and seeds of political discontent prior to the dissolution of the absolute monarchy in 1990.  The article reveals how the city of Bhaktapur differentiated itself from the capital and royal family through the evolution of a distinct social, political and religious identity. Special attention is paid to the role of Tantric rituals, a key component of this process of self-differentiation and a source of legitimacy for Bhaktapur’s deposed rulers and political elites. The paper’s major finding is that Hyoju’s positionality placed his life at risk by situating him within and between the previously described historical divisions in a Foucauldian twilight zone. The article concludes that the murder of a community leader was the byproduct of identity politics and cultural norms going back centuries.