Abstract

This study amalgamates the subjects of World Englishes, Postcolonial Literature and Trauma Literature. Colonization results in restraining the locals on their own homeland, depriving them of the basic necessities and their social, economic and religious rights. The current study has attempted at finding such elements in Indo-Pak Postcolonial Literature of post War of Independence 1857 from the manuscript of The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain translated by Mujahid Eshai, where the plight of the locals of the city of Delhi is accounted. This study has incorporated the textual method utilizing multi-model analysis through the lens of the proposition of Edgar W. Schneider’s Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Outer Circle Englishes (2018) and Edward Said’s Orientalism (1979). The study has found that despite being in their own homeland, the British power has marginalized the locals either linguistically, economically, religiously or socially. Moreover, apart from the locals being affected, this plight has also affected the former ruling family and royalty.

Key Words

Marginalization, Colonization, Dynamic Model, Postcolonial Literature, Orientalism

Introduction

Language is an insight into society (Hassan et al., 2021; Masood et al., 2020c). The Desolate City is basically a historical account for the post-war of independence 1857’s city of Delhi and the condition of its settlers and post-war atrocities. The letters of Mirza Ghalib and Mir Mehdi Majrooh are also included, which further elaborate on the condition of the city and its residents. The basic motive behind this short story is to show the downfall of the Delhi Sultanate in the hands of “the foreigners” and the atrocities afflicted on the residents, especially on Muslims, by the Britishers. Thus, the researchers study the short story The Desolate City from an operational postcolonial theoretical perspective: Dynamic Model and

marginalization.

The Indian Subcontinent has witnessed many great literary writers. Among them is the famous Urdu short story writer, critic, journalist, translator, travel writer and columnist, non-fiction writer and novelist, namely Intizar Hussain. He was born in Dibai, India but migrated in 1947 to Lahore, Pakistan and lived there till his death on February 2, 2016. He wrote novels such as A chronicle of the peacocks (2004), Naya Ghar (2005), and a number of short stories. The main themes of his writings included humanness, morality and hopefulness, where they depicted the folklore and religious traditions. The short story taken here is The Desolate City, translated into English by Mujahid Eshai in his collection of short stories Yesterday lives on, published in 2017. It was originally published in 2007 as Ujaar Shehar in the collection Dilli tha Jis ka Naam. 




Problem Statement

After Great Britain left its colonies around the year 1947, many literary works have since addressed the issue of post-colonialism, even within the era of colonization before gaining independence. This concept has been discussed both by the writers of the colonized territories and the colonizing ones, but with essentially different perspectives (Ahmed et al., 2021). In this regard, the Indian Sub-continent was one of the most important British colonies as it had a diverse culture and ethnicities and many religions co-existed. The present study of The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain (translated by Mujahid Eshai) was aimed at analyzing the text for its marginalization perspective of postcolonial theory; as to how the writer has presented the Britisher’s attitude of treating the locals of sub-continent as “Others” (Staszak, 2008), thus, marginalizing socially and economically the residents of Delhi. 




Research Objectives

This research aims:

i. To analyze the short story The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain, from a postcolonial perspective

ii. To explain the theme ‘marginalization’ with reference to the short story The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain

iii. To view the short story The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain from the perspective of ‘orientalist otherness.’




Research Question

This research aims at answering the following question:

i. How does the short story The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain represents the concept of marginalization from a postcolonial perspective?




Significance of the Study

The language of literature is important in finding the social dilemmas (Masood et al., 2020a, 2020b, 2020c). This research study contributed to the field of post-colonialism as it would fill the knowledge gap, especially related to the Indian sub-continent. The study is also significant because it sees the society of the British India sub-continent through the writings of a prominent writer, namely Intizar Hussain. Different models on different works are beneficial in finding different themes (Masood et al., 2020d). So, it can also assist future studies conducted in the domain of post-colonialism as well as studies that would be conducted on Intizar Hussains’s other literary works, as this would help in the critical understanding of the selected short story. 

Literature Review

The concept of colonialism and post-colonialism dates back to the time immediately after the end of World War II, when the colonies under the rule of Great Britain started to gain independence. However, the term ‘ post-colonialism itself became well known only after the 1970s, as many critics credit Edward Said’s Orientalism as pioneering work (Lye, 1998). Different writing was written in the fields and sub-fields of colonialism by different writers of these colonized areas to show the effects of colonization in their respective societies. 

Shafi (2019) said that the themes within texts are important for analyzing society. Masood et al. (2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2021) also agreed that language and text is an essential part of making and moulding societies. Societies are a by-product of their pieces of literature ad one can trace a society through literature in a particular part of the time (Siddiq, 2021a, 2021b; Ullah et al., 2020). Different models of text and content analysis can trace the themes of a society (Mansoor et al., 2021; Masood et al., 2020d). Edward W. Said’s (1979) Orientalism was applied on Intizar Hussain’s The Desolate City for extracting the theme of marginalization in British India in the form of postcolonial perspective through language appropriation under Edgar W. Schneider’s (2018) Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Outer Circle Englishes.

In Orientalism, Said discusses the perception of Westerners or accidents about the colonized Easterners, or in their own terms, the orients as being the marginalized and silent “others” (Said, 1985), often described as uncivilized and subaltern and represented in literature through a set of recurring images and clichés (Moosavinia et al., 2011). Although the colonies now have been put to an end, the concept of colonialism or post-colonialism still reflects through the works of certain literary works of colonized and colonial territories, for example, Bapsi Sidhwa, Intizar Hussain, Salman Rushdie, C.L.R. James etc.

As common to any other literary theory, post-colonialism also gave birth to certain new and innovative concepts. In 1994, Homi K. Bhabha gave the concept of ‘hybridity, which is explained as the intermingling of cultures and identities from the colonizing powers and the colonized ones (Lye, 1998), which sometimes proves to be fruitful and sometimes a loss of identity as well. Another well-known concept in this field is ‘Diaspora’ which is the force or wilful transition from one’s origin place (ibid). One of the famous and well-known diasporic writers is Salman Rushdie.

 Another important concept in postcolonial studies is the concept of ‘Subaltern’. It is the dependence of the low class, often the colonized or the ruled ones, to express themselves via the language and other cultural ways of the rulers as if their own existing ways mean nothing (Ludden, 2003). Spivak (1988) highlights the subaltern as perceived as ‘inferior rank’ in her famous essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’. A more contemporary concept of postcolonial studies is “double colonization”, which was coined in the 1980s, particularly by Petersen (1988). This term mainly refers to women who are subjected to both male dominance and colonial domination, simultaneously inferring that male dominance or patriarchy is parallel to empire and women is subjected to both, thus, doubly marginalized by both the powers (Ashcroft et al., 2007, p. 66).  

Being one of the principal aspects of literary theory and having its roots in the near past and one of the most important eras of literary studies, of which works are still heavily produced, certain studies have been conducted on them over many years, which in one way or another, relate to the postcolonial aspects. Related to the problem about to be investigated, a few of the principal works are discussed here, which would further explain the knowledge gap about to be explored by the researchers and would help to identify and answer the question of the research study.

Sudhakar & Nare (2016) conducted an analytical and descriptive study of different novels which are about the caste system of India. Here the concept of marginalization is extended to ‘Racism’ where the influence of upper caste in the socio-religious and cultural lives of the marginalized sections of the society is shown (ibid). Although the system was abolished in India, the concept of untouchables or ‘Dalits’ still prevails in the society, and the novel Untouchable deals with the trials and tribulations of that downtrodden society and their pitiful conditions, on the other hand, The God of Small Things also depicts the marginalized class in Indian society where, despite all the measures taken, still deeply rooted in that society, as quoted in the same paper “The abolition of slavery has gone on for a long time, Rome abolished slavery, America abolished it, and we did too, but only the words were abolished, not the things” (ibid). The method of study employed in it, textual analysis, was used in the present study. 

Another study conducted in 2011 was by Moosavinia et al. 2011 It studied the process of ‘othering’, where the colonizers treated the colonized as ‘not fully human and dehumanized the natives. In this work, a critique has been made that despite the white community living in the very heart of Burma, the locals are totally marginalized, as seen through the lens of Westerners, and as Kalechofsky says (as cited in Moosavinia et al., 2011) that rather than dealing with the problems of the Burmese, it concentrates on the problems of English in Burma. The same method of analysis, textual analysis, is employed for the study conducted. 

In 2016, a study was conducted by Nwosu and Umobi, 2016 where content analysis was done, and it highlighted colonial alienation as the major cause of conflict and violence, as contemporary to then Africa, violence and conflict were deemed as a product of postcolonial marginality, causing social chaos in several African states. The objective of the study was to investigate and examine the African writers, Lewis Nkosi and Esiaba Irobi, on their views about different realities, i.e. alienation, contributing to further increase in violence in that society and how their dramatic approach can help to bring lasting peace in Africa which remains peripheral to that society. This study was done as a case study for the societies of Nigeria and South Africa by doing a content analysis of the selected plays of the aforementioned African writers.

A doctoral dissertation was done by Chatterjee (2015). It studied marginalization from a feministic point of view as both the novelists, Anita Desai and Carol Shields, usually portray women from the upper class, however, in one way or another, marginalized socially, politically and economically in a male-dominated social structure. Although they both seem to be from different societies, namely India and Canada, respectively, which are also much apart geographically, they both seem to share many features from a feministic and marginalization perspectives. The primary of these similarities is the former colony of the British Empire. As quoted in the same, Said in his Orientalism (1978) says, “it is the colonizer who makes the Orient speak and in so doing disempowers the ‘looked at’”, thus appropriating the concept of feminism with it emphasizes the role of male domination in our society. The study conducted used the method of textual analysis for its discussion.

 A study was conducted by Zahra and Arif in 2016. This study investigated the historiographical elements in the novel ‘River of Fire’ by Hyder (2016). By colonial historiography, we mean any work which is influenced by the colonial ideology of domination and a sense of subordination or otherness (The basic elements of colonialist ideology, n. d.). It studied the ‘postcolonial otherness’ in a colonized community, represented in the novel River of Fire, by comparing the fictional narrative with actual historical events and found out the dominance of historical element up to the level that the fictional narrative of the novel itself seemed to be a real, historical account of the colonial era. The study conducted was based on the textual analysis method and comparing it with the real events of the past.

Another study conducted in 2017 was by Anwar et al. 2017 It did a comparative analysis for colonial and postcolonial traces in the source text and translated text, where certain lexical choices and translation strategies in the translated text were manipulated and adjusted so as to refute the representation of English as superior and ‘others’ a subaltern in the source text. According to Lefevere (2003, p. 14), most often, ideology is incorporated or enforced when a person or institution publishes or undertakes the job of translating a text from the source text to translate one through the use of certain translation strategies.

 Experimental research was conducted in 2005 by Deal & Fox 2005, suggesting that voice to the marginalized class of people can be given through the transformative power of art. Certain experiments were carried out where the inmates were engaged in learning the art of photography, writing and discussions. The ultimate of all this experimentation was to find out “How can people in marginalized groups use images and text to give voice to the convictions by which they live their lives”? Keeping in mind certain previous experiments and the discussion of this study, it was found that, indeed, art gives voice to the marginalized group, to eventually speak out their heart and mind.

Research Methodology

This section aims at giving the outline of the methodology involved in carrying out this research study. It incorporates the sample for the research study, design and method of the research study, the theoretical framework and the elaborate procedure to be followed while conducting this research study.




Theoretical Framework

For theoretical framework, it is based on multi-model operational analysis, which combines two distinct theories on two different subject matters to explain a single manuscript. Edgar W. Schneider’s Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Outer Circle Englishes (2018) is applied for the Indo-Pak English variety, which states, “Exploitation colonization caused increased language contact, processes of structural nativization, and the emergence of “New Englishes” in “ESL” (English as a Second Language) countries, as described fundamentally in the “Dynamic Model” of the evolution of Postcolonial Englishes and found generally across Asia and Africa today” (p. 42). Edward Said’s Orientalism (1979), where he says, “Orientals were rarely seen or looked at; they were seen through, analyzed not as citizens, or even people, but as problems to be solved or confined” (p. 207). There is a view of Lok (2012), “While ‘Englishes’ is conceived as relatively static categories constricted to specific geopolitical boundaries, such Englishes are at the same time used by individuals whose cultural consciousness and experience are dynamic.”

Around this proposition of Said, the research study was based as it provides the basis of the idea of marginalization. As the westerners always looked at the orientals as inferior and especially after the colonization, they perceived orientals as nothing but problems which they were facing. In an attempt to solve those ‘problems’, they confined the orientals in a restricted social and economic space, depriving them of certain necessities of life, even their own abode, thus marginalizing them into a specific space rather than freedom. In the short story The Desolate City, these elements of post-colonialism can be witnessed while going through the text.




Sampling

The data was extracted for analysis and discussion from The Desolate City in the form of textual chunks to be analyzed under Dynamic Model and Marginalization. As Intizar Hussain was one of the pioneer literary writers at the time of independence, so his major works contained the rural and colonial theme and recently were translated into the English language, for which it was necessary to explore it further.




Method of Analysis

The textual method of analysis is incorporated in this research study because it inspected the insight element of marginalization. These instances were present in the text and referred to the source text time and again for the discussion and conclusion. This research is qualitative in nature as the data was collected and analyzed in text form or qualitative form.




Research Design

The procedure of this study was to read the text thoroughly and to look and inspect the broader concept of post-colonialism and its element of marginalization through the description given in the text and, thus, discussing and analyzing the text by referring back to the source text and taking instances from it.

Data Analysis

This section deals with the collection and analysis of the data upon which the researchers have based his study, based on the short story the researcher has selected, The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain. As an instance of textual analysis, the researchers selected textual examples from the source text and examined and analyzed them in the light of the theory based on Edward Said’s proposition of the Postcolonial perspective of marginalization.




Marginalization of Residents of Delhi Post-1857 War

In the current project, researchers have traced out certain instances of text out of the short story which depicted the aspect of marginalization, as the residents of Delhi, especially Muslims, went through certain events which depicted their social, religious and economic sufferings on the hands of British colonizers.




Text 1

“Many a people for the sake of shelter erected temporary abodes, but the rulers did not digest even this…. the people warned that they shall not undertake to construct homes again” (Hussain, 2017, p. 147).

The story starts with the description of the city post-war of independence 1857, which Mirza Ghalib has described in his letter, saying even after a year, the city’s condition is dilapidated, belongings stolen, and many residents fled. However, a handful of people still camped outside to try to establish a temporary living, which the British government does not approve and threats to destroy them.

These lines show the typical colonial mindset of the rulers of colonial powers where they marginalized the local people socially and economically, denying them even of their own living and, as Said says in his proposition, ‘confining’ them to a restricted place. Those locals were perceived as threats and problem to the colonial powers, and those powers legitimized their domination over the locals (Macleod, 2012, p. 43) by justifying their actions as solving those ‘problems’.




Text 2

“…the Hindus were also allowed to return. Muslims, 

of course, we're still deprived of this privilege”

(Hussain, 2017, pp. 147-148).

Despite the ruined state of the city, although a few classes of society are later allowed to return to their homes, for example, artists and Hindus, but as for Muslims, they are still not allowed to enter the city. These lines show the typical narrow mindedness of the colonizers as they seem to be afraid of the locals, especially the ones who were previously in power. In this case, as the Muslims previously held the throne of the subcontinent, so the Britishers show the element of Islamophobia pertaining to that colonial environment.

By doing so, most of the Muslims were barred from several governmental and private institutes later, even in the first quarter of the 20th century, except for some key figures like educationalists and artists. Even the Royal family suffered under this economic and social marginalization, and some of them were even confined till death. This truly depicts the idea of Said that especially the Muslim citizens were solely seen as problems to the Britishers, so they were marginalized in their own homeland without any humane justification.




Text 3

“Those who live in it can also be exiled…” (Hussain, 2017, p. 148).

These lines depict the height of colonial authority and their demigod nature as it seems that they have the ultimate authority to decide if anyone has the right to live at a place; if so, then who, that too at one’s own place. Actually, the background for this is that the British government later makes a proclamation of paying for certain tickets for Muslims to return to their own place, but in the end, they were the ones to decide whom to allow into the city and whom to banish from their own abode, without any specific reason.

This creates a picture of marginalization of the locals from their own livings through the hands of colonial powers where those powers justify their doings as solving problems, as Orientals were seen as a mere problem: according to Said, for the betterment of that society. These ‘problems’ were always confined either socially or economically, as if their mere presence would pollute the lives and livings of settlers, hence, creating a binary separation or ‘others’ (Ashcroft et al., 2007, pp. 154-155).

“The fools of Delhi who were lying outside were left high and dry with Mouths agape” (Hussain, 2017, p. 148). These lines showing the desperate state of the locals that even after buying the tickets, they are uncertain of the end results as the person having the authority leaves the subcontinent. This shows pure reliance of oneself on the colonial authority for even one’s own fate, as for now, all the life decisions now laid in the hands of colonial powers and those authorities exploited their powers in marginalizing the colonized people socially. 




Text 4

“…ten persons per lane should be allowed in…I am giving more permission to Hindus…the number of Muslims in this is minuscule” (Hussain, 2017, p. 148).

Here, again, the exploitation and marginalization of Muslims are depicted as the colonial authorities make plans for the return of the natives to their own homes. The natives are desperate to return to their previous abodes, and some of them attempt, daringly, to return on their own without the proclaimed tickets, for which they get ‘reward’ of punishment, in the form of imprisonment and fines.

The plan again depicts the Islamophobic attitude of the colonizers towards the Muslim natives, and in doing so, they attempt to marginalize those Muslims more than any other social or religious class, as if they may create any problem for the colonizers in the future. Hence, the best solution for the Britishers is to confine those natives, depriving them of their basic necessities and their own land and belongings so that there may be little chance of any attempt of the uprising. By doing so, those colonizers are in the process of creating ‘oriental other’, according to Said, where they create a sort of binary relation and always shun the ‘others’.




Text 5

“…after a great number of appeals, the Muslims were allowed re-entry, but with strict conditions” (Hussain, 2017, p. 149).

Marginalizing Muslims in society and discriminating them against other strata of society, such as religion and class, was utterly unacceptable for those Muslims. Although they were under the strict and brutish rule of the British empire, they were infuriated by their racial discrimination and other steps taken to marginalize them socially, economically and religiously, so there was an outcry by them to allow them entry into their own city and let them live on their own soil. For this, eventually, they were given access to their own places with certain economic penalties and to prove their innocence. All this inhumane affliction was inflicted upon them just to get access to their own place and belongings.

These lines truly depict the idea that for the colonizers, the natives had become ‘others’ in their own homeland and were marginalized on the basis of being others. Even after such disgrace and humiliation, when given re-entry, the majority of them could not find their belongings, even their homes, as all of them were obliterated. It seems that after relief was given, although on a superficial level, the natives; especially the Muslims, were still subjected to confinement, as Said says, and we're still not truly recognized as citizens of that city.




Text 6

“First, they were disgraced in trying to get a ticket. Thereafter, when they had re-entered the city after securing the permit, they were abused differently” (Hussain, 2017, p. 149).

After much waiting and bearing disgrace in the hands of foreigners, when the natives returned to their city, most of them were in shock to find their living place ruined with just walls standing. Even some were more dumbfound on not being able to locate their homes because everything just vanished as said: “Had the earth eaten them or the skies swallowed them” (Hussain, 2017, p. 149)? All of their belongings were looted and plundered, and they were facing troubles and were demeaned over and over again.

This condition depicts the extent to which the natives were marginalized in their own country and city. Sufferings after sufferings were inflicted upon them as the colonizers justified it as solving those ‘problems’. As the writer says, even after suffering hardships in getting the opportunity to get into the city, they were further demeaned up to the extent that the writer expresses it by saying: “Perhaps those who stayed back and died or those who had gone further away to settle in unknown territories were much better off” (Hussain, 2017, p. 149)—implying that even after being given approval, their state was made much worse even than the deads. Living in their own city, they were not allowed to live a peaceful life and were humiliated again and again, and as Said says, “confined in their own city”. The exploitation and abuses were evident in this research which was permitted differently.




Text 7

“The doors of the masjid were closed on them. No Muslim dare venture onto the stairs and the Jama Masjid roundabout…” (Hussain, 2017, p. 151).

After suffering many afflictions, hardships and humiliation, when the natives of Delhi were eventually given entry, some of them found their lost abode, while others did not, but still, they were the content of at least being at their native place. But soon, they were occupied with new worries. While in the process of fleeing away, most of the residents, along with their living, lost their fortunes and savings in loots and plundering in the chaotic situation. This situation raised concerns about economic stability. While earlier, everything was cheap enough for their living, but now the situation had totally changed, and the basic necessities of life were difficult for them to acquire. A few of the people had shown the presence of mind, and in the midst of that chaos, they deposited their savings with some trustworthy people and got back their belongings when they returned. Ultimately, the residents found ways of survival but what made them anxious was that they were barred from going to the Jama Masjid and its roundabout, which was the essence of Delhi and its resident’s lives.

By this text, we come to the understanding that apart from marginalizing socially and economically, the Muslims were especially marginalized religiously. The British colonizers were reluctant to even let them perform their religious activities and had them confined religiously. This shows the height of colonial marginalization that the residents were even snatched their religious rights, apart from economic and social rights. This shows the narrowmindedness of the colonial powers as if performing one’s religious duties was a threat for them and, as contrary to their belief of being liberal and religious freedom, they deemed it as a problem to deal with it and apart from restricting those natives socially and economically, they were confined religiously, as if in an attempt to solve that problem in a rather vicious manner.




Text 8

“A good-looking youngster… seen loitering about the stairs like a beggar and singing in a doleful voice… it was revealed that he was a defeated and destitute Mughal Prince… singing verses… earning money to fill their stomach” (Hussain, 2017, p. 152).

As the routine of the natives was coming to normality, still there was some unease on account of their religious needs. The British colonizers did not give any attention to it or rather did not want to give any; however, due to prevailing mental anxiety prevailing, the natives were compelled to form a movement against this indifference of colonizers as the author describes: “…to secure the return of their pivot of life from the clutches of the foreigners” (Hussain, 2017, p. 151).

Initially, the Britishers were indifferent to it, but as the voices rose, they took some action, that too nearly five years later, so that the religious harmony came into their life. Life seemed to return to the normal around that mosque, but still, there were some spaces and some unknown additions as well. There was a young boy begging, which was later known as one of the princes of Delhi’s Red Fort. 

This account of a prince, devastated to the extent of begging, shows that not only the common men were marginalized in the society, but the colonizers also had confined the royalty to a petty state. As a member of the former royal family, they were not even treated like a common citizen but even worse than that. All their royal belongings were plundered, and livings were snatched from them. They were both socially and economically confined to the extent that a common citizen was living a better life than them. As Said says, they were considered a big ‘problem’ for the Britishers as if they posed a threat to their government, so they were treated worse than the laymen.




Text 9

“…after the declaration of amnesty, they all became eligible for pension… amount was five rupees a month” (Hussain, 2017, p. 153).

As the account of a prince, begging was given, he was not the only, but there were also several others as well, only to count those who came under the government’s count. There were even the princesses who were blended in ordinary life with ordinary people, doing ordinary chores for other people for their own living. Some of them sold flowers, some as caretakers of other’s children, while some worked as teachers. All those came into count after declaring pardon; else, they would have been killed. The government announced a meagre amount of money as a pension.

As the account of princes and princesses is given by the author, their humiliated state is described as the colonizers snatch them of all of their royalty and even the basic needs. They were abused as were treated like beggars, even worse than them, and were not given any treatment, according to their statement. Even after the declaration of pardon, a very insufficient amount was appointed as their pension, just to drag along their lives. This humiliating treatment is described by the author as: “Those who were executed or banished were saved from this embarrassment” (Hussain, 2017, p. 153). 

This implies that apart from the ordinary men, the royal blood, too, was marginalized significantly in the hands of the colonizers and were mistreated, confined to a restricted sphere of life, in order to avert any possible uprising from them. Their condition was made even worse than those who were already dead. They were marginalized and confined on the very soil on which they once ruled. So, whether rich or poor, ordinary or royalty, according to Said’s proposition, all were deemed as problems, especially the Muslims, and were confined socially and economically.




Text 10

“How unlucky is Zafar! Even for burial 

Two yards of land were not to be had, in the land of beloved” (Hussain, 2017, p. 154).

???? ?? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ???

?? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? ???

Apart from the princes and princesses of the Royal family, one of the most notable examples of misery was Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor of the Mughal Empire, and most notably, as the author describes him, the manhood of Delhi. After the 1857 war, he was forced to exile to Rangoon and was made prisoner there. The author describes this as Delhi lost its manhood. In-state of exile, he was treated as such and died in1862, whereas his poetry became famous among the masses of the city and in the whole subcontinent. He lived miserably under the state of being an exile, and his poetry showed his life to be a very tragic one. Here in these verses, which he himself composed, he describes his dejected life coming to a miserable ending. After his departure, all the royal and native culture and norms disappeared under the British Raj.

Here, the verses of Bahadur Shah Zafar itself explain the treatment given to a former ruler. While in his lifetime, he was confined economically and socially, and also literally, he was humiliated and demeaned, being far off his homeland and even after his death; he was denied any burial in his homeland. This shows the attitude and indifference of the colonizers, even towards the deads, as they were initially marginalized socially and economically, and as dead ones, even then they were denied any humane treatment as if the Britishers had no concerns towards those dead ones.

All in all, the natives of Delhi were treated as was expected from the colonizers. They were treated as non-humans, were perceived as problems, as Said says, “and, as the colonizers justify, they were here to solve those problems.” Whether they be rich ones or the poor, whether they be ordinary people or royalty, all were marginalized socially, economically as well as religiously, especially Muslims. Even though living in their own homeland, having their own belongings, they were denied all of these and were treated typically as colonized class of people. The author has presented all the content in such a way that it truly represents the idea of Edward Said, that the colonizers perceived the colonized as problems, not as humans, thus confined them, restricted them and marginalized them both socially and economically, and in many instances, religiously too. 

Conclusion Implications and Futuristic Vision

In a nutshell, this study concludes with the findings that the writer has incorporated certain instances of marginalization in the text; whether it be social, economic or religious segregation of natives: and as the backdrop of this text presents the colonial era; after the War of Independence, 1857; so the text has been incorporated with the postcolonial perspective of marginalization. This research study meets the desired research objectives as it explains, initially the plight of locals marginalized in their own native hometown, especially religious prejudice against Muslims, disgrace and mental infliction done to the locals of Delhi by the colonial rulers, deliberate economic exploitation of the locals and even mistreat and humiliation done to the royalty and previous ruling class; all of this represented and elaborated, as an answer to, in accordance with the proposed research question of this study.

This study is important for understanding the behaviour of colonizers towards colonized. This exploration of this study brought different levels of understanding among which the foremost contribution of it was enabling us to understand it with the postcolonial perspective; as to how the locals and royalty were treated, or rather mistreated, in the era of colonial rule, in the hands of foreigners, on their own homeland. The current research is an interlink between the domains of World Englishes, Postcolonial Literature and Trauma Literature. The findings of the study would provide a new dimension to the students and researchers in the field of the aforementioned domains to explore the instances of marginalization in their regions and societies. This study would provide further understanding and assistance in future studies in the domain of postcolonial studies.

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