Man Booker Prize-winning author for her debut novel
‘The God of Small Things’ in 1997, pens almost after twenty years her second
fiction entitled ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’ in 2017 which received wide
critical acclaim for its subject matter.
How
does one narrate a fragmenting nation? Much of postcolonial fiction grapples
with the failure of the postcolonial nation-state to deliver on the promises of
democracy and the betrayal of the people by the anticolonial nationalists who
quickly turned into postcolonial dictators. From Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiongo to Salman Rushdie and M.G. Vassanji, postcolonial writers have
grappled with this question (TICKELL).
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness articulates
a nation’s history from the perspective of the marginalized. Anjum, a hijra,
and Saddam Hussain, a Dalit, and Tilottama, a maverick young woman. and it is through the tales of these characters
Arundhati Roy presents the failure of Nation-state.
Her
present novel deals with varied contemporary issues of ‘Modern India’ like “the
matter of the hijra communities, the rise of Hindu nationalism, the struggle
for Kashmiri independence, the plight of caste discrimination, the impact of
rapid industrialization on the environment and the effects of globalization on
society”.
Even
though it is a fiction, it depicts the crude reality of contemporary India. Roy
uses lots of allusions to satirize various people and ideologies of our time. There
are few Indian writers who through their work try to depict the injustice and
inequalities in our society. If the writers are writing about the negative
sides of the nation, then we have to learn to accept that this is the greater
process of self-examination and to become a better society such kind of self-criticism is very essential. It is appropriate to quote here the words of Arvind
Adiga that “"At a time when India is going through great changes and, with
China is likely to inherit the world from the west, it is important that
writers like me try to highlight the brutal injustices of society," he
said, adding that the criticism by writers like Flaubert, Balzac and Dickens of
in the 19th century helped England and France become better societies.
"That's what I'm trying to do - it's not an attack on the country, it's
about the greater process of self-examination," the writer told Guardian (The Newswire).
Much of the western European
history conditions us to see human differences in simplistic opposition to each
other: Dominant/subordinate, good/bad, up/down, superior/inferior, Male/Female.
We are habituated to think in binaries only. This systematized process of
oppression automatically creates someone as superior and others as dehumanized
inferior. So, one can’t imagine the condition of doubly marginalized
transgenders. these characters are mostly torn between two worlds- male-
female, love-hate life-death and so on (Raina) There is a very narrow space for the queers in
Indian literature and India
is never a utopia for the transgender (Raj). Aftab / Anjum is 'hijra' in the
novel, so through his/her character, Roy is presenting the plight of transgender
in the Indian community.
Apart
from this, environmental decay is also a significant issue that can be pondered in
novel. Supriya Mandal in an article entitled 'An Analysis from the Perspectives
of Postcolonial Ecocriticism of Arundhati Roy’s The
Ministry of Utmost Happiness" writes that The
Ministry of Utmost Happiness draws out the
issues of the deteriorated condition of
river due to construction of dams and
the sewage system of industrial
wastages, the ‘otherness’ of animals, birds, fishes
and trees and their easy exploitation, the
wiping out of sparrow, vulture from
biodiversity due to excessive scientific manifestations,
the predicament of zoo animals, the
abolition of the forest for the steel and mining
factories and the uselessness of nuclear
testing etc. The author unravels that most of the environmental
dilapidations are the result of Euro-American
ideology of ‘development’ project which is a disguised form of neo-colonialism
and imperialism (Mandal).
Novel
has many allusions like The Emergency of 1975, Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the
anti-Sikh riots, 9/11 attack, 2002 Gujrat Riots, Narmada Bachao Andolan, the
unrest in Kashmir, Maoist insurgency, atrocities against Dalits, the rise of
the gau rakshaks, the saffron wave, Modi's ascendancy (he's referred to as
"Gujarat ka Lalla"), the anti-corruption brigade of Anna Hazare, the
advent of Arvind Kejriwal and that entire movement of 2011, state election and general Election
of India, Una Violence,(mob lynching) issues with minorities etc.
Roy
refers to The Emergency, 21month period from 1975 to 1977 that was imposed by
Indira Gandhi. During Emergency the elections were suspended and civil
liberties were curbed. At that time press was also censored and opposition
political leaders were imprisoned. Public gatherings and meetings were
restricted; the police had the right to search homes without a warrant and
could arrest people without charges. The situation during the Emergency has
been outlined in the novel as,
Civil
Rights had been suspended, newspapers were censored and, in the name of
population control, thousands of men (mostly Muslim) were herded into camps and
forcibly sterilized. A new law – the Maintenance of Internal Security Act –
allowed the government to arrest anybody on a whim. The prisons were full, a
small coterie of Sanjay Gandhi’s acolytes had been unleashed on the general
population to carry out his fiat. (TMUH)
Roy
mentions to Bhopal Gas leak tragedy occurred at (UIC), Union Carbide India
Limited (a pesticide plant) situated in Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya
Pradesh in India. The gas leak was so dreadful that it killed thousands of
people overnight. Moreover, many people lost their eyes permanently, became
disabled and affected biological deformation of the next generation also. A 2014 report in Mother Jones quotes a "spokesperson for the Bhopal Medical
Appeal, which runs free health clinics for survivors" as saying "An
estimated 120,000 to 150,000 survivors still struggle with serious medical
conditions including nerve damage, growth problems, gynaecological disorders,
respiratory issues, birth defects, and elevated rates of cancer and
tuberculosis (Wikipedia)."[CEO of the
company Warren Anderson was responsible for all these but it was believed
that he was able to flee the country with the support from the politicians.
In
the novel, Roy has used this incident as a backdrop. Novel shows people are
still protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi for justice. Roy in this novel has
given a voice to those who have been wounded, died and those who are still
suffering due to the aftermath of Bhopal Gas tragedy. Anjum meets the group of
fifty representatives protesting at Jantar Mantar demanding for justice, in the
case. They are on the protest, with banners which say “Warren Anderson has
killed more than Osama bin Laden” (TMUH). Roy here is comparing the accused
Warren Anderson with the mastermind of September 11 attacks of New York, and in
doing so, she is probably mapping the intensity of the tragedy which was much
more tremendous and horrible than 9/11 attacks. By comparing the two accused,
she is also highlighting the ‘little justice’ done to the victims of the Bhopal
tragedy who are still suffering from its aftermath (Prashant Maurya).
The
residents of “Khwabgah” in the novel, who are a thousand kilometres far from
New York can be seen sharing the grief and sentiments of the people of the USA.
“The usually garrulous residents of the Khwabgah watched (on TV) in dead
silence as the tall buildings buckled like pillars of sand” (TMUH 40). The tall
buildings here are a reference to World Trade Centre buildings. Everyone in the
Khwabgah was watching the live broadcast of the burning down of the towers
silently, with their mouth shut in great shock. In that prolonged silence the
utterance of Bismillah, “Do they speak Urdu?” shows his disposition to
associate himself with those trapped and losing their lives in the ablaze
buildings. This incident in the USA had not only perturbed the United States
but India also. The fictional characters of the novel are also no different from
it (Prashant Maurya).
In
the novel Arundhati Roy refers to former Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee
as The Poet Prime Minister. Immediately after 9/11 attack Govt. of India passed
a law, POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) in 2002 which was also included in
the novel.
Roy
also includes the incident of Godhra riots of Gujrat in 2002. The incident was
such that few pilgrims were returning from Ayodhya in Sabarmati Express. The entire coach was set to fire and then riots break out in the state. Roy has
efficiently situated Anjum and Zakir Mia in the riots. Both characters get
trapped in the riots in Ahmedabad, which was burning in the fire of communal
riot at that time. Roy delineating the situation during the riot in Ahmedabad
writes that Muslims in Ahmedabad were attacked by a mob who were “armed with
swords and tridents and wore saffron headbands” (Roy). So, in a way by
putting her characters amidst the riots, Roy is criticizing the dark episode in
the history of the nation.
Arundhati
is very critical of current prime minister Narendra Modi, whom she refers in
the novel as ‘Gujrat ka Lalla’. Even former prime minister Dr Man Mohan Singh
is also criticized as “Maun Mohan Singh” meaning “Silent-Mohan Singh” because
of his reticent nature. The novel shows him as just a puppet of someone. And that
someone is actually Sonia Gandhi. Kejriwal, the current Delhi Chief Minister is
referred as Mr Agarwal.
In
2011 The Anti-corruption Movement led by Anna Hazare was the centre of attention of the entire Nation. On 4 April 2011– Anna Hazare started the ‘fast to death’ at
Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding the government to draft and pass the Jan
Lokpal Bill to fight against corruption. The country was tired by series of scams
including 2G scam, Coal mine distribution scam, Commonwealth games scam etc. so
in Delhi, there was a huge protest against the corruption, which was joined by
many people including bureaucrats, film stars, some politicians etc. Roy
includes this episode also in the story to show the darker reality of the
nation.
Mob
lynching on the name of cow protection is also one of the most debated issues of
recent time. There are few instances which were the talk of the town and were in
headlines that people got killed by a mob. Recent incidents include Dadri Mob
lynching in 2015, 2016 Latehar Mob lynching case, 2016 Ahmedabad lynching case
etc. where the mob has lynched the accused to death.
Roy projected the contemporary critical
and sensitive socio-political issues of India. Under the covers of secularism
and democracy how intolerance, racism, discrimination and injustice frequently
practised. How people are slaughtered and innocents are buried in the dark
(Raj). So
in a way novel is a commentary on the crude sides of present Indian society,
with the backdrop of real incidents like Bhopal Gas massacre of 1984, Gujarat
riot of 2002, Kashmir insurgency, the plight of Kashmir Pandits, clash between the Muslims and Hindus Maoist and Naxalite movements, problems of Adivasi’s
and Dalits as well as other political, religious aspects, war, Capitalism,
Nationalism and so on.
Thus,
we can say that Arundhati Roy is narrating a fragmented Nation in her novel The
Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
Works Cited
Mandal, Supriya.
"An Analysis from the Perspectives of Postcolonial Ecocriticism of
Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." The Criterion: An
International Journal in English 9.2 (February 2018).
Prashant Maurya,
Nagendra Kumar. "Political overtones and Allusions in Arundhati
Roy’sPolitical overtones and Allusions in Arundhati Roy’sThe Ministry of
Utmost Happiness." Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
10.3 (2019). PDF. 14 8 2020.
Raina, jaaved Ahmad.
"Transgender Marginalization and Exclusion”: A study of Arundhati Roy’s
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." The Creative Launcher (n.d.).
Roy, Arundhati. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
Gurgaon: Penguin Random House India, 2017. Print.
The Newswire.
"My book highlights brutal injustices of India: Adiga." 16 10 2008.
PDF. 13 8 2020.
<https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/my-book-highlights-brutal-injustices-of-india-adiga/621065>.
RAJ, SUSHREE SMITA.
"A STUDY ON ARUNDHATI ROY’S “THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS." INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND TRANSLATION STUDIES (IJELR)
Vol. 5. .Issue.2., 2018 (April-June) (n.d.).
TICKELL, ALEX.
"Writing in the Necropolis: Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost
Happiness." Moving worlds: A journal of Transcultural studies
(n.d.).
Wikipedia. Bhopal disaster. n.d. 14 8 2020.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhopal_disaster&oldid=971888690>.
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