MARGINALIZATION STRATEGIES IN ARUNDHATI ROY’S THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS

Abstract

The present study investigates marginalization strategies in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017) by Arundhati Roy. The selected text was analyzed in light of the postcolonial theory, foregrounding a background of the colonized state of the subaltern class in India. The subaltern studies historiography identifies the ruling elites of India as bearers of the legacy of British colonizers. Like the colonizers, these elites have ruined the lives of the subaltern class and as a result the subaltern groups have no access to power and their voices have never been heard in the political and social arenas. Roy presents the case of the most marginalized people of India i.e. minorities, Dalits, transgenders and those who live in the slums. Indian politicians, local elites and patriarchs have been marginalizing them through various strategies. Their lands are confiscated and no alternative measures are taken for the displaced and dispossessed people. They try to record their protests but their voices are silenced through military, police and militant organizations. Similarly, bloodbath in Kashmir has engulfed its people in a war-torn colony. They are still living in a colonial era because Indian military and militant organizations are using in-depth strategies to suppress their voices. State is deliberately pushing them towards insurgency and then through counter- insurgency they are killed, their women are raped and their youngsters are declared as militants. The Indian politicians back up militant groups and take political precedence through violence and anarchy. They deliberately declare India as a security state for the benefits of the few for which the subaltern class is always presented as a threat to the state. The protagonist of the novel is a hermaphrodite, who is also marginalized by society through patriarchal values and political injustices but her generosity and compassion towards marginalized people is a slap on the faces of Indian authorities. Roy’s advocacy of the subaltern class has unveiled the abominable faces of Indian politicians. She has keenly observed different incidents in the recent history of India.