TRAGEDY OF BHOPAL IN LITERARY IMAGINATION: INVESTIGATING ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMANITARIAN CRISES IN INDRA SINHA’S ANIMAL’S PEOPLE AND ARUNDHATI ROY’S THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS

S. M. Ishmam Alam

Abstract


This paper looks into the literary elucidation of the aftermath of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, one of the most cataclysmic industrial disasters, through engaging with Indra Sinha's Animals People and Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The Bhopal disaster, which happened due to the negligence of the corporate and neoliberal apparatuses, wreaked a dreadful despoliation in Bhopal; it caused over 3,000 instant deaths and over 25,000 deaths in subsequent years, resulting from the gas exposure. The novels under scrutiny deal with this traumatic historical event and investigate its frightful consequences from both ecocritical and humanitarian perspectives. Through the maimed protagonist, Animal, Sinha attempts to bring the Bhopal victims to the forefront, who still wrestle with excruciating illness and several forms of deformity that are not yet treated with seriousness and care. Worst of all, Sinha lamentably shows how aggressive nationalism and hideous internal power politics stand as barriers to fighting the subsequent ecological disasters, jeopardizing any hope for a better future. Similarly, Roy has also depicted the precarious vision of existence in Bhopal, where human beings are even deprived of “clean water” and “medical care”, without getting any slightest help from the authority and the media. Through the juxtaposition of Roy and Sinha's novels, this paper illustrates the manifold ways in which literary creativity can engage with environmental and humanitarian plight, providing nuanced insights into the long-lasting impacts of such tragedies on individuals and society at large. Furthermore, the paper also brings to the fore how these two fictional representations deal with issues of environmental deterioration, corporate or neoliberal negligence, and governmental apathy towards Bhopal’s toxic legacy.

 

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Keywords


Bhopal, environment, nationalism, neoliberalism, disaster

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejls.v6i2.651

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