Industrial Negligence and Disability Study in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People

Abstract

This paper examines industrial negligence and disability in Animal's People by Indra Sinha through the perspective of disability studies. The novel is inspired by the Bhopal disaster, in which a toxic gas leak from a pesticide factory caused thousands of deaths and left many survivors with long-term physical and psychological injuries. Sinha transforms this historical tragedy into fiction and focuses on the continuing suffering of people who are abandoned by both the corporation responsible for the disaster and the institutions that should protect them. The study centers on Animal, the narrator of the novel, whose spine is permanently damaged by exposure to poisonous gas. His body becomes a visible reminder of industrial violence and environmental injustice. Using ideas from disability studies, particularly the work of Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and Lennard J. Davis, this paper argues that disability in the novel is not presented as a personal defect. Instead, it is shown as a social and political condition created by corporate greed, state negligence, and unequal access to justice. The paper also explores how Animal resists pity and develops a strong sense of identity through storytelling. His voice challenges conventional ideas of normality and reveals the dignity, agency, and resilience of disabled survivors. Ultimately, Animal's People demonstrates that the disabled body can function as both evidence of industrial crime and a powerful form of resistance against systems of exploitation and neglect.