TRAIN TO PAKISTAN - BOOK REVIEW

Author: Khushwant Singh

Year of publication: 1956

Language : English

Genre: Historical novel

Rating: 4/5

" Morality is a matter of money. Poor people cannot afford to have morals,so they have religion"

             - Train to pakistan

         Train to pakistan is a historical novel written by Khushwant Singh based on Partition of India. The story is mainly based on the impact of partition on border villages.Mano Majra was a village which is situated in India - Pakistan boarder. The novel deals with the impact of partition  in Mano Majra. More than the political aspects of partition, in this book Khushwant Singh shares how the partition affects the life of common people.

                 Mano Majra was a village situated in India - Pakistan border. On that time Sikh - Muslim agitation were going on in India,while in this village they had living peacefully. Partition was not disturb the peace of the village except due to the murder of Ram Laal ,a moneylender. Jugga Singh  was arrested and locked up in connection with the death of Ram Laal. He was in love with Nooran , the daughter of the imam of the mosque. Right after the Ram Laal s death Iqbal, a foreign - social worker arrived the village and started to live in the Gurdwara. He faced suspicion for keeping his second name unrevealed because it may Iqbal Singh or Muhammad Iqbal i.e he may be a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh. After somedays Iqbal also arrested by the police in connection with the death of Ram Laal. Iqbal came to village one day after the murder of Ram Laal. After knowing that wrong arrest were made,HukumChand , the magistrate order to keep him in the prison until the arrest of actual dacoits. Meanwhile, the police and Government were stressed because when a train arrives Mano Majra ,it was a train full of dead bodies of Hindus from Pakistan and in return the Sikhs attacking the Muslim refugees leaving India.  The Government decides to transport Muslims to Pakistan for their safety but Muslims in Mano Majra were not ready to move. At last they moved to a refugee camp, on that time a group of religious agitators came to Mano Majra and make the Sikhs hatred for Muslims. They planned for a mass murder of Muslims leave on their train to Pakistan. Nooran had to leave the village along with his father as the Muslims were gathering at the refugee camp to leave for Pakistan. When the last train about to leave for Pakistan ,with Muslims from the refugee camp while the Sikh dacoits are waiting to attack the train.On the mean time Jugga  released from the jail and informed that Nooran and her father are on the train. The last  train from India to Pakistan is a gift to Pakistan by Jugga who pays the price of his life for the love of Nooran.