Khushwant singh train to pakistan summary

Her anxiety is reduced by Jugga's mother, who reassures her that Jugga will locate her no matter where she is. The caravan from the refugee camp shows up the next morning, however, it can only carry so many belongings. Additionally, it is reported that the Mano Majrans would be sent back to Pakistan rather than remaining in the camp permanently.

There is panic as everyone is concerned regarding what is going to occur to the Muslims' property. The Muslim soldiers are given just 10 minutes to gather their belongings and bid farewell by the commanding commander, who doesn't seem to care. As soon as the truck is out of sight, Malli and his gang of robbers seize the property together with the Sikh immigrants from Pakistan.

The Sutlej River starts to rise later that day, and the village's concentration turns to the risks that this pose. To keep an eye on the river in case of floods, the lambardar takes up a night watch. The soldiers can hear a train pulling into the Mano Majra railroad station as they keep watch. Nobody leaves. During this time, thatch, clothes, and dead animals are coming down the river.

The remains of dead adults, adolescents, and children may be seen clearly by the men as morning shows up. It is obvious that another atrocity occurred upstream. The guys rapidly make their way back to the village to update on what's happening at the river but discover that everyone has their sights on the railway station. This time, the deceased is being buried in a cemetery for the dead and the train that came is another phantom train.

Mano Majra has a gloomy ambiance at night. None of the surviving villagers wants to be alone, therefore they have all assembled at the gurdwara. The Sikh priest, Meet Singh, finishes his prayer, and an assembly of violent Sikhs storms into the temple. They force several Man. The lambardar alerts the sub inspector about the upcoming violence while on his way to the Chundunnugger police station.

Until the subinspector informs him that Haseena will also be on the train, Hukum Chand is ignorant and replies to let the Sikhs murder the Muslims until such time as the police aren't involved. Hukum Chand completely changes his perspective in reacting to this information and sets up a strategy to save the train. He gives the order to release Jugga and Iqbal in the hopes that they might help the Muslims aboard the train.

The two men were released by the sub-inspector, who informs them that the village has experienced a major transformation since the Mano Majra Muslims have been banished. Jugga leaves Mano Majra after he and Iqbal get there in anticipation of something that Nooran has been waiting for him in the woods. Returning to the gurdwara, Iqbal is greeted by Meet Singh, who informs him of the upcoming assault.

Despite being horrified, Iqbal eventually chooses not to act since no one would be aware of his sacrifice. Before Jugga arrives at the temple to worship, he passes out while consuming alcohol. When Jugga requests Meet Singh to pray for him, he unwillingly agrees, but he is unwilling to clarify the meaning of the prayer. However, Jugga thanks the priest and requests that he bid Iqbal farewell on his behalf.

Hukum Chand regrets letting Haseena go back to Chundunnugger. He would be indifferent with the end result if she remained at with him. He is less confident in his position as magistrate and dejected when he considers how many of his colleagues have perished in acts of violence. He says a prayer as the distant sound of the train can be heard.

Men began putting themselves together on both sides of the railway tracks a little after p. They can hear the approaching train. Although no one recognizes him, "a big man" descends the steel crossbar of the bridge; it is Jugga. In all his conflictions, he is able to acknowledge that what he is doing is bad, but is still unable to promote good.

The two other main characters that are given a lot of attention are Iqbal Singh and Juggut Singh, and are likely meant to be contrasted. Iqbal is described as a slightly effeminate, well-educated and atheist social worker from Britain who thinks politically and cynically. Juggut is a towering, muscular, and uneducated villager who places action over thought and is known for frequent arrests and gang problems.

As if to warm them up for comparison, they were both arrested for the same murder they did not commit, and were placed in adjacent cells. They each had the potential to save the train, though it was recognized that this may cost their lives. Juggut, nevertheless, acts on instinct and sacrifices his life to save the train. Iqbal spends pages wondering to himself whether he should do something, exposing a moral paradox on the way:.

It is important to note that Iqbal or the learned people are less of action, while the people of Juggat's breed are less about talking. It hits the good and the bad, the important and the insignificant, without distinction. If there were people to see the act of self-immolation…the sacrifice might be worth while: a moral lesson might be conveyed…the point of sacrifice…is the purpose.

For the purpose, it is not enough that a thing is intrinsically good: it must be known to be good. The questions of right versus wrong which Singh poses throughout the book are numerous, including those of what one should do when one has the opportunity to prevent something bad, when an act of goodwill is truly worthwhile, and how much importance is the consciousness of the bad.

Train to Pakistan, with its multiple gruesome and explicit accounts of death, torture, and rape for the public to read, makes the case that people do need to know about the bad. Khushwant Singh does not describe the politics of the Partition in much detail. This is mostly because his purpose is to bring out the individual, human element and provide a social understanding, two aspects of historical events which tend to be either ignored or not covered effectively in texts.

The effect of the change, however, was significant and as Singh has shown, frighteningly, social, as religious groups rearranged and clashed violently. Singh makes it clear that many people played a part in this chaos and everyone was equally worthy of blame, all while integrating examples of the sheer moral confusion which arises from trying to make sense of an event as momentous as the Partition.

He is a political agitator who encourages peasants to demand more political and economic rights. He identifies himself as a "comrade" which suggest that he is part of the Communist organization. Iqbal is a Sikh, given his last name and the band he wears, but does not practice the religion anymore. He is portrayed throughout the novel as Muslim.

Iqbal has an affinity for English costumes and practices, "his countrymen's code of morals had always puzzled him, with his anglicized way of looking at things. The Punjabi's code was even more baffling. For them truth, honor, financial integrity were 'all right'" Jugga is described as a budmash , a bad man, by others but ultimately becomes a hero.

One of the central protagonists and in many ways a foil to Iqbal, Jugga seeks to redeem himself over the course of the novel. But Jugga is also an honest man, and he tends to change his ways once he falls in love with Nooran. His crude language and wordplay often contradicts his inner morality: "I was out of the village. I was being murdered" He is large in frame 6 foot, 4 inches tall and prone to violent tendencies.

Hukum Chand is the deputy commissioner in Mano Majra and has authority over the sub-inspector and the head constable. His daughter, along with other members of his family, have died, but it's not clear how. Her death deeply affects him and fuels his detached, utilitarian style of policing; he centers on saving as many lives as possible, at any cost.

This includes restricting the freedom of the people to keep them safe i. He is described as depressed and he is deeply marked by the violence of the Partition. For example, when Chand is reflecting on the train massacre, he focuses on his memories of the bodies: they haunt him despite his efforts to remove them from his mind. Furthermore, he is obsessed with death, viewing it as "the only absolute truth"; he is afraid that when someone dies, their existence no longer matters.

When he recalls the train, he can only imagine the utter terror felt by the passengers, which manifests in a belief that life must be made as pleasurable as possible through hedonistic behaviours. A movie based on this novel and having the same title Train to Pakistan was released in It was directed by Pamela Rooks and this movie was nominated in Cinequest Film Festival , in the best feature film category.

For each trainload of dead they send over, send two across. For each road convoy that is attacked, attack two. That will stop the killing on the other side. The communal situation became so tense and complicated that the well-meaning men like Meet Singh, Lambardar and the police official Hukum Chand found themselves helpless to stem the tide of violence.

Singh while blaming the Sikhs and Muslims and the government officials for the communal frenzy, was ruthless severe on the politicians especially Nehru. He attacked them through his mouth-piece Hukum Chand. I do think he is the greatest man in the world today. And how handsome! Prime Minister, you made your tryst. So did many others on the 15th August, Independence Day.

There was Sundari, the daughter of his orderly who also made tryst with destiny on the road to Gujranwala. She had been married only four days ago and had hardly seen even the face of her husband. As she was travelling with her husband she was pulled from the bus along with her husband and raped and killed. In his own case, Hukum Chand had to endure the ghostly sights of train-loads of massacred people and the corpse of butchered men, women, and children.

He could not provide shelter even to his sweet heart Haseena. Hukum Chand was reduced from the powerful magistrate to a pathetic figure. However Khuswant Singh ends his naturalistic novel with the heroic note of a romantic sacrifice. The communal situation demanded courage and the spirit of self-sacrifice of the highest order. While the so-called adherents of human values, Meet Singh, Lambardar, Iqbal and Hukum Chand, could not muster enough courage to set their massive weight to confront communalism, Juggat Singh, a hardened criminal did it in his own way.

The Sikh sacrificed his life for the safety of his Muslim beloved Nooran. He slashed the rope which was tied to stop the train which was carrying her to Pakistan. Ostensibly through Train to Pakistan, Khuswant Singh expressed his anger, disenchantment and disillusionment with the prevalent social, religious and political values during the Partition days.

He was so upset by the harrowing events of that he lost faith in the values of peace and nonviolence. Indian Writing in English. Bombay: Asia Publications, Raizada, Harish. New Delhi: Prestige Books, Sahane, V. An Artist in Realism. Naik et al. Madras: Macmillan, Singh Khuswant. Train to Pakistan. New Delhi: Roli Books Pvt. Swain, S. Dominic, English poet, critic, short story writer, editor.

Sharma, Reputed English poet, short story writer, critic, translator, editor, reviewer from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Aju Mukhopadhyay, Reputed Bilingual poet, short story writer, novelist, critic, essayist from Pondicherry, India. Ghanshyam, Critic, Professor of English, Govt. Jayanti M. Writers Editors Critics, Vo. Jaydeep Sarangi, Reputed Bilingual poet, critic, short story writer, interviewer.

Madhur Kumar, Asstt.

Khushwant singh train to pakistan summary

Saikat Banerjee, M. Shubhra Apurve, Final B. Student, J. Rajendrakumar M. Shivangi, Lecturer in English, Govt. College, Hattikuni, Yadpiri, Karnataka, India. P, India. Jeyaraj, Associate Professor of English, Govt. College, Mattannur, Kerala, India. University, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India. Chandramoni Narayanaswamy, Reputed English poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, translator from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

Bhaskar, Lecturer in English, A. Sandeep Sharma, Lecturer in English, D. College, Moga, Punjab, India. Sunil Sharma, Bilingual poet, short story writer, novelist, critic, translator, interviewer, essayist and Principal of Bharat College, Badlapur, Mumbai, India. Sobre a tecnica ativa de Sandor Ferenczi Paula Peron. Una storia lunga quattromila anni, Atene, etp books, , pp.

La ragionevolezza dei limiti al riconoscimento dei diritti sociali in favore degli stranieri: una questione ancora aperta Andrea Iurato. The Future is Queer and Vegan! Kadri Aavik. Problematica de la mineria ilegal en Colombia David Ochoa. These announcements, coupled with the arrival of the ghost train, split Mano Majra in half. Muslims and Sikhs begin to look at one another suspiciously.

A group of Sikh Mano Majrans meet at the temple to discuss the recent events. One young man is infuriated and bitter towards his Muslim neighbors, until someone suggests that Sikh refugees from Pakistan may come to their village and harm their Muslims. Imam Baksh and two other Muslims join the group at the temple, and everyone discusses together what they should do.

Imam Baksh leaves in tears to tell the other Muslims to pack up their property. The next morning the convoy from the refugee camp arrives, but it can only take a limited amount of property. Malli is left in charge of the property, and once the convoy is out of sight his band of dacoits and the Sikh refugees from Pakistan raid and loot it. Later that day, the Sutlej river begins to rise, and the focus of the village shifts to the dangers that presents.

The lambardar arranges a night watch to monitor the river in case of flooding. As the men stand watch, they hear a train arrive at the Mano Majra train station. No one gets out. Meanwhile on the river, dead livestock, thatch, and clothing come floating down. When morning breaks, the men can clearly see the bodies of murdered men, women, and children bobbing in the water.

The train that arrived is another ghost train, and this time the bodies are being disposed of in a mass grave. At night, the atmosphere in Mano Majra is grim. All of the remaining villagers are gathered at the gurdwara, because none of them wants to be alone. After Meet Singh, the Sikh priest, ends his prayer, a group of militant Sikhs enter the temple.