Abstract
This paper examines the post-colonial nation‟s history (India) from perspectives of marginalized
minorities in Arundhati Roy‟s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The aim of this research is to
explore the marginalization of “the Others” and traces the otherized segments of contemporary
Indian society that are marginalized on the basis of being a hijra, a Dalit, a woman, a Muslim and
an Untouchable. This paper analyzes „binarism‟ and the conflict between the center and
periphery: between Hindus and Muslims, between male, female and intersex, between
Touchables and Untouchables, as well as between the graveyard and the surrounding wider city.
Anjum, an intersex, Revathy, a Maoist comrade, Dayachand, an Untouchable, Tilotamma, a
wandering Syrian origin half-Dalit woman, Musa Yeswi, a forced Kashmiri freedom fighter–
narrate the untold and unheard tales about failure of a secular democratic country. This paper
tours the fault lines of India and highlights the struggle of socially excluded people of society,
against the established standards of the culture hence challenging contemporary stereotypical
representation of “the Others” and eventually resistance. Roy explicitly advocates religious,
racial and territorial degenerative system and reflects the challenges of telling national narrative
from a multiple minoritarian perspective. The novel has multi-layered and multi-dimensional
plot-structure and investigate the causes behind Roy‟s attempt to give voice to the voiceless
(Indians). This research is carried out applying Edward Said‟s theoretical framework of “The
Self” and “The Other”, “Us” and “Them”, and “Binary Opposition”.
Rizwan Mustafa , Zoya Jamil Chaudhry. (2019) Representation of ‘The Other’: Tracing the ‘Otherized’ Segments of Contemporary Indian Society in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, South Asian Studies, Volume 34, Issue 2.
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