Refers to people considered to be outside of India’s traditional four-caste system. Dalits, known in English as untouchables, form a fifth caste that exists at the bottom of the social pyramid. Today, the Indian government recognizes the term Dalit, which is historically offensive, as unconstitutional, and prefers the term Scheduled Caste. Although discrimination against members of the Dalit caste is now unconstitutional, it is still very common. In the novel, Saddam Hussain is of the Dalit class, and experiences discrimination because of this.
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Untouchable / Dalit Term Timeline in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
The timeline below shows where the term Untouchable / Dalit appears in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...his job are part of a caste called Chamars, whom the doctors think of as Untouchable. When he arrives to stay for good at Jannat Guest House, he has just been...
(full context)
...name is Dayachand, and he comes from a family of Chamars, or members of the Untouchable caste. One day, he went with his father to collect a cow that had died...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...prove to Anjum that he is serious. Instead, he shows her a video of young Dalit men, contracted to remove dead cows from upper-caste properties, flinging cow carcasses into the property...
(full context)
