Train to Pakistan

By Khuswant Singh

“Morality is a matter of money. Poor people cannot afford to have morals. So they have religion”

― Khushwant Singh, Train to Pakistan

Hey bookworms, it’s been such a long time since I last posted any review or anything. The reason I was occupied with online classes, freelancing work and most important is that I was really upset because of all the people being sick. A lot people I know lost their life and for the past 15 days it’s been really difficult and horrifying. I just want everything to get back to normal.

But in between this chaos I was constantly reading something or the other to take my mind off these things. As I shared in a previous post that I wanted to explore the works of Khuswant Singh, so I started with Train to Pakistan and I must say it is a very good start.

First of all, I would not recommend this book to anyone who wants to read anything casual. Because this book can make you highly upset. Coming to the story, the plot is set in Mano Majra, a village situated just at the newly made border of India and Pakistan. The partition has taken place just two months ago and the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims of Mano Majra have no clue why it has happened and why the Muslims are going to Pakistan and the Hindus are coming back from Pakistan. As Mano Majra is situated at the border, the people witness some strange happenings at the local railway station. But no one is allowed to go there. They see (from their rooftops) the train stop and soldiers setting fire to a large pit of dead bodies.

“Not forever does the bulbul sing
In balmy shades of bowers,
Not forever lasts the spring
Nor ever blossom the flowers.
Not forever reigneth joy,
Sets the sun on days of bliss,
Friendships not forever last,
They know not life, who know not this.”
― Khushwant Singh, Train to Pakistan

These happenings continue to happen when a moneylender of the village is killed and a local badmash Jagga and a Sikh Iqbal Singh are arrested as accused. The thing is Iqbal is portrayed as a Muslim by the local police encouraging communal violence. And the murder has not been committed by either of the two but a local group of dacoits. The situation of Mano Majra is very good as there is harmony among all the religious groups but the communal hatred forces the police to evacuate the Muslims and send them to Pakistan and they are successfully send off. But a certain people of the Sikh community try to manipulate the Sikhs of Mano Majra and make a plan to kills as many Muslims as they can of the next Train to Pakistan.

Jagga, who is a so-called badmash and a mast-maulaah kind of a man sacrifices his life for the sake of the Muslim people.  Now what this story makes me realize is that we are very much confined to our own selfish motives. Just for the sake of religion and its commandments we don’t hesitate to hurt the people with whom we used to live. In short, we forget humanity just for the sake of making a certain community proud. The question that Khuswant Singh wants to ask through this book and something which we all should ask ourselves is that shouldn’t humanity be the first thing in our mind while doing anything? Isn’t the value of human life more important than this so-called religion which only makes us kill each other?

Last but not the least, what happened, it happened. But the real problem that needs to be addressed by every single human being is that why is this still happening in our society. Isn’t 21^st century a little late for these orthodox approach? Where is it going to take us?

Let me know if you have read this novel or not in the comment section or chat with me of any social media platform. Happy reading!!