POST-COLONIALISM- Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh

Summary

The story in Train To Pakistan begins at the time of the Partition. The country is being divided into India and Pakistan, and in many places along the border, bloody riots affect the proceedings.

The tiny village of Mano Majra remains isolated from these outside conflicts. The Sikhs and Muslims in this village live in peace, and the relationship between the two communities is good. The Muslims work as labourers in the village, while the Sikhs own the land.

The story centers around this little village, and how the peace in the community is shattered due to a series of events. When news of the riots reach the village, the different communities express their solidarity and support for each other.

But trouble arrives in the form of a train carrying the slaughtered bodies of Hindus and Sikhs from the region that is to be Pakistan. Refugees also arrive from these places, their hearts filled with hatred due to the violence that they have witnessed.

Slowly, the peaceful village becomes divided. Meanwhile, a money lender named Ram Lal is murdered in the village. In the wake of the new tense atmosphere, the inspector who has been sent down to keep peace fears that this might trigger angry reactions against all Muslims.

As the Muslims prepare to board a train leaving for Pakistan, the inspector tries to divert the others’ attention by arresting people who are not connected with the murder, like Juggut Singh, the never-do-well of the village, an uneducated and volatile young man who has always been in trouble with the law. He is however extremely loyal towards his own village. He knows the gang that committed the murder, but had refused to take part in killing a person from his own village. The other person arrested is an intellectual political activist, Iqbal Singh.

During all this, the tension between the communities heats up due to the influx of refugees. The Sikhs and Hindus of the village, who had once stated their willingness to defend their Muslim neighbors against the anger of the refugees, now turn against the Muslims. A violent mob plans to attack the train carrying Muslim refugees to Pakistan.

The inspector releases both Juggut and Iqbal, hoping that they would somehow be able to help him save the train.

This book does not focus on the major politics of the partition. Instead, it focuses on a tiny and peaceful community that is torn apart by external influences.

Criticism:


                Post colonialism is a criticism that examines the effects of imperialistic view in the post colonial societies.
               In Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh succeeds in showing the human dimension of the  event of Partition. Partition is a bloody violence that preceded  the birth of India an Pakistan as the British hurriedly over power  in 1947. Pakistan and India were rule d under the colonization of Britain where in millions of men, women and children were killed and displaced from their homes, the poverty  in which people live and the uncertainty brought about the British Indian Army. The Train to Pakistan also brought a feeling of nostalgia to the reader. It is set with a background of independent India left with the separation on the  Nation into Pakistan and India.