Book Report

Introduction:
It is a place, Khushwant Singh goes on to tell us at the beginning of this classic novel, where Sikhs and Muslims have lived together in peace for hundreds of years. Then one day, at the end of the summer, the 'ghost train' arrives, a silent, incredible funeral train loaded with the bodies of thousands of refugees, bringing the village its first taste of the horrors of the civil war. Train to Pakistan is the story of this isolated village that is plunged into the abyss of religious hate. It is also the story of a Sikh boy and a Muslim girl whose love endures and transcends the ravages of war.

Motivation:
Its the recounting of the partition of India in August of 1947. This political event concerned the deportation of Muslims from Hindus and Sikhs areas into newly created state of Pakistan. But the main motivation came from issue concerning human and morality and provide an understanding of right and wrong In face of violent crisis.

Author:
Khushwant Singh, a well-known Indian novelist and journalist and humorist, along with being a poetry lover. He was born on 2 February 1915 at Hadali in British India that is now a part of Punjab in Pakistan. Singh was born to a Sikh family and was a secularist as an adult, educated in England. Singh was a Rajya Sabha member of the Indian parliament from 1980 to 1986. He was also honored with the Padma Bhushan award in the year 1974 for service to his country, but he returned the award in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army in 1984. Undeterred, the Indian government awarded Singh an even more prestigious honor, the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2007.

Writing Career:
Among the several works he published are a classic two-volume history of the Sikhs, several novels (the best known of which are Delhi, Train to Pakistan, and The company of women), and a number of translations and non-fiction books on Delhi, nature and current affairs. The Library of Congress has ninety-nine works on and by Khushwant Singh. Singh has edited Yojana, an Indian government journal; The Illustrated Weekly of India, a newsweekly; and two major Indian newspapers, The National Herald and the Hindustan Times. During his tenure, The Illustrated Weekly became India's pre-eminent newsweekly. After Singh's departure; it suffered a huge drop in readership.

Summary:
Mano Majra is a small village known for its railway station populated by Sikhs and Muslims. The Sikhs are wealthy and few in number, owning all the land, while the Muslims are tenants of the Sikhs. Mano Majra is a small village consisting of only three brick buildings: one is the Temple, the Mosque and the money lenders house. One night the dacoits emerged from a keekar grove and waited for the night train to pass which was a signal that people are asleep. Then they marched towards the money lenders house and hammered the door with back of their guns, dogs began to bark. They rammed through the gate and looked for the money lender, Ram Lal but couldnt find him, at this they threatened a new born and he told where Ram Lal was hiding. Dacoits found him and beat him pretty badly taking away all the money, jewelry. On their way out of village they threw away bangles in the house of Juggat Singh. At that time Juggat was with the girl he loved Nooran, they came back to house on hearing the gun shots. The morning before the dacoity in Mano Majra, the rest house had a guest, Hukum Chand and deputy commissioner of the district. He invites Mano Major's head policeman, Inspector Sahib, to come in. They discuss the massacres of the summer and only 'bad' person in the village is Juggut Singh. After Sahib left, Magistrate was left alone watching two Geckos meanwhile two men and women arrived for his pleasure then the harmonium played, the old hag sang and the young girl danced. After sometime everyone except the young prostitute left. On the day following the dacoity, the train station is busier than usual. A small, somewhat effeminate and well-dressed man named Iqbal emerges and goes to the Sikh temple to stay the night. There he engages in conversation with the Bhai of the temple, Meet Singh. The Bhai tells Iqbal of the murder and Iqbal is frightened; the Bhai is amused that Iqbal thinks he can change the country and yet cannot handle a single murder. Iqbal is stretched out on a hammock trying to sleep. The last night on the train wasnt very comfortable. Meet had a discussion with Iqbal regarding his living and religion and told Iqbal that Ram Lal was murdered by Juggat Singh. The next morning Iqbal got arrested. He protested, the policeman became frustrated and handcuffed him and drags him off. Ten men are sent to arrest Juggut Singh, all armed. He is handcuffed but he calmly explains that he had nothing to do with the dacoity. The policemen know they had made two mistakes. When they reach jail Iqbal complains that he was persecuted for trying to

organize the peasants and Jugga was arrested in a murder case. Iqbal was striped for interrogation and the sub inspector confirmed that he has come to start violence. Iqbal and Jugga were sent to Chununnugger police station, both were kept in different cells with very much different facilities and sub inspector tried to investigate them but failed. Early in September, the train schedule becomes completely unpredictable in Mano Majra, making life generally unpredictable. One morning, a train from Pakistan stops, but this one has a weird element since it has no signs of life. A village meeting is held, but the only people who speak are Imam Baksh and Bhai Meet Singh, the mullah of the mosque and the Bhai of the Sikh temple respectively. The Imam is a weaver. He has a single daughter, Nooran, to care for and Meet is only a peasant who has taken religion as shelter. The policeman asked the lambardar of the village to collect as much petrol and wood which were gathered and sent away next morning. There was a huge fire at train station and people in village saw from their roof tops. Later that evening Hukum Chand reacting privately too the incineration of the bodies. The images haunt him. Chand has great trouble calming down until he drinks some whiskey and falls asleep next to his prostitute. Hukum Chand awakes with a roll of thunder. He looked at the prostitute and had whisky; he saw the rain put out the fire. The next morning he asked inspector about the arrests and then started a conversation with the prostitute and thought her daughter would have been the same age. Iqbal is left alone in his cell for a week, with only newspapers and magazines. He sees little of Jugga until the day when the policemen bring in Malli and his gang, which infuriates Jugga and he was transferred to Iqbals cell and they were transferred to Juggas cell and were soon to be released on order of magistrate. The constable brings Chand's plan into action. The village is in a state of depressed. The constable also makes the appropriate inquiries about the Muslim gang and about "Muhammad" Iqbal, who Meet Singh protested was Sikh. The constable's visit divides Mano Majra into two neat halves. The Muslims are afraid that, since they were tenants they would be hurt or expelled. For whatever reason, the Sikhs become angry; they feel that the Muslims cannot be trusted. The Sikhs believe that Muslims killed Ram Lal but Bhai Meet defended the Muslims and said that Muslims have not done anything wrong. Imam Baksh came to the house and talked about the ongoing situation in the village. Sikhs said that they would protect the Muslims with everything but in the end Imam Baksh said that they would be leaving the village tomorrow with the belongings they can take when Nooran heard this she was shocked.

The next morning four trucks with armed jeep entered the village and ordered Muslims to get their belongings and get on trucks. The same day of Malli's looting, the Sikhs look on with dismay however, the rain continues to fall and the nearby river, the Sutlej, continues to rise. After some searching, the villages hear and see a number of large objects floating down the river. There had been a massacre upstream. When the villagers return to Mano Majra, the people are gathering on their rooftops due to a mysterious train from Pakistan and people started to murmur about it that it could contain more bodies. All the remaining Sikhs were gathered at temple and at night an officer came in khaki uniform and planned to attack the train that was leaving for Pakistan some of the villagers joined in. Back in Chundunnugger, Chand proclaims his indifference to the mass killing, telling the sub inspector that they simply have to give the appearance of having tried to stop the massacre. The sub inspector then tells him that the Chundunnugger refugees are going to be taken away by the night train and an attack was planned on it. He then encourages Chand to use his influence to quite the mob. Iqbal and Jugga were sent free. After prayer is finished, Meet Singh meets with Iqbal and introduces him as Iqbal Singh. Meet told them about the plan to kill Muslims of Mano Mujra on the train that was leaving for Pakistan. The trap was set to kill the people on train but Juggat Singh cut the rope and died doing that. Hukam Chands daughter coming from Pakistan got raped by Muslims because her husband was a Sikh.

Impression:
1) The summer of 1947 was not like other Indian summers. 2) We were slaves of the Indians and now we will be slaves of educated Indians or Pakistanis

Most Favorite Character:

Juggut Singh: can be called a criminal. He acts according to his principles and always follows them. it was he who had cut the rope. He never robbed his own villagers and did not want them to die what if they were Muslims. He was in love with Nooran their relation showed that love knows no religion.

Least Favorite Character:

The Train: as a character takes the role of a personality who is calm, controlled and with inhuman feelings. The fact that thousands of people were slaughtered and mutilated in the train, and blood poured from the rooftops, did not hinder the functioning of the train.

Ending:
A train crossing the village Mano Majra was taking all the Muslims to Pakistan. A girl named Nooran was also travelling in that train. The famous goon Juggat Singh and Nooran were in love. At that time the Sikhs and Hindus were trying to stop the train going to Pakistan by placing ropes on the rail tracks according to plan for the purpose of killing the Muslims. Juggat Singh wanted to fail the trap in order to save Nooran from getting killed and succeed in it and died cutting the ropes, this way train went to Pakistan.