7 - Self-sacrifice versus sacrifice in the revolutionary struggle

Summary

The relationship between sacrifice and violence took a spectacular turn with the advent of the People's War, which lasted from 1996 to 2006. The struggle was led by the Maoist party of Nepal, at the heart of which developed a true mystique around the concept of violence. Blood sacrifice, bali dān, became the iconic symbol of the revolution. From the very start, it expressed both individual commitment and the movement as a whole. It differs in this respect from sacralisation of violence after the fact which can be found in other contexts, such as the use of the term ‘holocaust’ to designate the Nazis’ Final Solution, or the titles of martyr conferred after the end of hostilities in communist China. With the outbreak of the People's War in Nepal, violence was considered sacred from the very beginning, and commitment became the expression of its most venerable form, that of sacrifice. This attribution of holy meaning to violence happened as the war was being fought and then, just as quickly as it appeared, faded away with the ending of the war. The People's War was declared on 13 February 1996 by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), at that time still only a small group, and ended a decade later, on 21 November 2006 with the signing of a peace agreement, in the manner of the great wars of yesteryear. By starting and ending so decisively, the People's War parenthetically takes on the form of sacrifice as defined by Hubert and Mauss, with its formalised ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’. Much like sacrifice, this war was detached from ordinary time and its inherent violence modified the experience of its duration. The staccato rhythm of attacks removed any comforting structure from daily life. This kind of suspense and uncertainty, which imbue the animal sacrifice with its proper meaning at the moment of the consecration, become generalised in the People's War. In one fell swoop, terror spread across the entire territory, in a sort of sacrificial invasion, from the more targeted dread of blood sacrifice.

The idea that war is a vast sacrifice is nothing new in the Hindu world, but it is not merely a rhetorical equivalence.