The train to Pakistan

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Indian historic fiction

A fantastic read about the gruesome and the torturous perils that were witnessed by the Hindu’s, Muslims and Sikhs during the partition of India in 1947. This book is considered a classic amongst the Indian historical fiction genre and rightly so. The author paints a distinctive image of the downtrodden and rural landscapes of the then rural India and how its people had to fight through the most barbaric crimes in the name of religion and selfish politics.

Mano Majra is a border lying village between Indian and Pakistan and was the home to the friendly and peace-loving Sikhs and Muslims. However, the after effects of the mindless partition of the country overcasts new shadows of vengeance, jealousy and unwarranted anger over the opposite religion thereby disturbing the harmony of Mano Majra. What follows is a systematic plan concocted by its residents who were instigated into vengeance by few unknown strangers dressed as the police to kill thousands of Muslims – once their own neighbours in the village – while they are passing through the village’s railway station on a train enroute to Pakistan. A simpleton bhai of the Gurudwara, an England educated agnostic youth and the Deputy Magistrate of the Government and a love smitten big burly native dacoit fight through elaborative arguments and internal battles within themselves on whether or not they need to intervene to avoid the potential genocide. Will they intervene and if so did they succeed?

A definite must read!