Partition! 1947!
The time when India and Pakistan parted. This lead to various new problems. Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims all suffered this partition.
The story of Train to Pakistan takes place in a village named Mano Majra situated in Punjab, where Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims co-existed in peace. This village was the symbol of peace and harmony. All communities lived happily and enjoyed each others company. But after partition, several dacoits took place, Hindus and Muslims were killed in train from both the sides (India and Pakistan).
The story is explained from the view of Jagga, a robber; Hukum Chand, the magistrate and Iqbal, political activist. The characters are very complicated. There is an educated social reformer with false accusations, bandits, corrupt policemen and a young Muslim woman in love with Sikh man.
The story being in a slow pace has many engaging events. The description of daily lives of people is very realistic, it feels like I was in the story and was experiencing everything. The arrival of goods train in village in the morning, prayers by muslims and sikhs were the waking signs of people in the village. They were depended on such signals for waking up in the morning. But after several incidents, the whole scenario of village changed with lives of people too.
The best part of story which I liked was when Hukum Chand decided not to harm the 16 years old Muslim girl whom he considered was a prostitute. As he thought of his daughter would also be of same age if she was alive , how will she feel. Another best thing was about Banta Singh (lambardar), Meet Singh and Iqbal Singh who thought of keeping the peace in village instead for harming the lives of innocent Muslims. Three of them were very noble people.
The ending brought tears to my eyes. But various conditions of our country are same as they were in 1947. The end message of the story was very extreme. It is an ndividual who can change the world, you just need to make the right decision even when no one stands with you. It's a wonderful book worth reading.
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