Characters of Train to Pakistan:
Jugga or Jugat Singh is the main protagonist of the novel. He is a young Sikh man, a dacoit with a good heart. Jugga is the son of the late Alam Singh who was an infamous dacoit and was hanged to death for the murder and dacoity two years ago. He is in love with Nooran, the daughter of the Imam Baksh, the weaver, and mullah of the local mosque of Mano Majra. Jugga’s mother is an aged sincere woman who doesn’t approve of her son’s reckless behavior. She knows about Nooran’s affair with Jugga and that Nooran is pregnant with Jugga’s child. Lala Ram Lal is the moneylender of Mano Majra. His family is the only Hindu family of the village while all others are either Sikhs or Muslims. Lala Ram Lal is robbed and killed at the beginning of the novel as the dacoits take advantage of ensuing misgovernance as an aftereffect of Partition. Malli is a young dacoit from another village who hates Jugga as he is the competitor. He robs and kills Lala Ram Lal and then frames Jugga for the crime. Iqbal Singh or Iqbal Muhammad is an educated man from Delhi who goes to Mano Majra to inform the local people about various government reform schemes and petitions. However, he gets hauled into jail alongside Jugga for Lala Ram Lal’s murder and is accused of being a member of the Muslim League. Bhai Meet Singh is the priest of the local Gurudwara of Mano Majra. He is the only man in the village who opposes the atrocities against Muslims. Banta Singh is the Lambardar or tax collector of Mano Majra who informs the police about the plan to murder the Muslims on the train to Pakistan. Hukum Chand is the magistrate and Deputy Commissioner of Mano Majra and the surrounding district area. He is not morally upright but tries to avoid a Muslim massacre at the end of the novel by releasing Jugga and Iqbal from jail and taking their help in avoiding the massacre. The sub-inspector and head constable of Mano Majra is corrupt police officers who help Hukum Singh in his illicit activities. Sundari was the daughter of Hukum Singh who was married to Mansa Ram. After her marriage, when Sundari was going to Gujranwala with her husband a Muslim mob attacked their bus. The mob raped Sundari and cuts Mansa Ram’s penis off. Both were killed afterward along with other Hindu and Sikh passengers. Hukum Singh is still in shock at this event and fails to sleep at night. He takes the help of Haseena Begum, a young Muslim prostitute.
Summary of Train to Pakistan:
While North India is facing turmoil in the aftermath of Partition in the summer of 1947 with millions of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs fleeing from their homes on each side of the new border between Pakistan and India, the isolated village of Mano Majra is still at peace. It is a small and poor village with only three brick buildings, one is the gurudwara where Bhai Meet Singh is the Sikh priest, and the other one is the local mosque where Imam Bakshi, the local weaver is the Imam. The other brick building is the home of Lala Ram Lal who is the head of the only Hindu family of the village. Lala Ram Lal is a rich man who lends money to other people. Hukum Singh, the magistrate and Deputy Commissioner of the district arrives at Mano Majra and visits the police station. He asks the subinspector if there are any troubles between the religious groups. The sub-inspector informs that the village is totally at peace and hardly anybody knows about independence or partition. He says that though some people know about Mahatma Gandhi, nobody knows about Muslim League. Hukum Chand asks about the hooligans of Mano Majra. The subinspector says that Jugga is the most dangerous man though he is in love with Nooran who keeps him in check.
Mano Majra faces a notorious dacoity in which Lala Ram Lal is brutally murdered After robbing Ram Lal’s house, the dacoits pass by the home of Jugga. One of the dacoits throws away some of the stolen money and the broken bangles in Jugga’s courtyard. Jugga was with Nooran at that time. Nooran is the daughter of Imam Baksh. While Jugga and Nooran were making love, they hear shots of bullets. Then Jugga sees five dacoits running away through the river. Jugga recognizes one of them as Malli, a dacoit gang leader from another village.
The next day, a train from Delhi arrives at the station of Mano Majra and a young man steps out of the train. The subinspector scrutinizes him and feels that he doesn’t belong to Mano Majra. The man goes to the gurudwara and meets Bhai Meet Singh and asks for a stay for a few days. Meet Singh asks his name and he answers Iqbal. Meet Singh assumes that the young man is a Sikh and his name is Iqbal Singh and allows him to stay at the Gurudwara. Later on, Iqbal meets Banta Singh (Lambardar) and Imam Baksh at the Gurudwara. Imam and Lambardar discuss why the British left India while they were good rulers. This angers Iqbal who says that India is now free to which Lambardar answers, “Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis.”
Bhai Meet Singh learns that Jugga has been arrested for robbing and murdering Lala Ram Lal. Meet Singh is perturbed not because of the murder of Ram Lal but because Jugga has now started robbing his own village. Iqbal is also arrested on the same day as he is a suspicious character.
The police keep Jugga and Iqbal in different prison cells. The sub-inspector informs Hukum Chand about the robbery and murder of Ram Lal and the arrest of Jugga and Iqbal. However, he also says that he doesn’t believe that Jugga had anything to do with the robbery. Hukum Chand asks about Iqbal and the head constable says that he is a Sikh whose name is Iqbal Singh. But then the subinspector inspects Iqbal. He gets him stripped and sees that Iqbal is circumcised and concludes that he is a Muslim and belongs to Muslim League. Hukum Chand directs the sub-inspector to issue an arrest warrant for Iqbal his name as Mohammad Iqbal. When the subinspector questions Jugga about the robbery, Jugga informs that he saw Malli and his men running out of the village right after the robbery took place. The subinspector takes Malli and his associates in custody and shifts Jugga to the cell of Iqbal. Iqbal asks if Jugga really murdered Ram Lal to which Jugga says that he couldn’t harm Lala Ram Lal because Ram Lal helped him in his time of need by lending money to pay the lawyers when his father was in jail.
In September, the train schedule gets disturbed. One day, a train arrives at the station of Mano Majra but no one gets out of the train. It is a ghost train that arrived from Pakistan. All the passengers were murdered as they were either Hindus or Sikhs and the train was full of dead bodies,. The police ask for help from villagers to arrange for kerosene and wood to burn the bodies and the villagers arrange for the matter. Hukum Chand observes all the processes and ensures that all the bodies were properly disposed of. By the night he is too tired. The dead bodies reminded him of his own daughter Sundari and her husband Mansa Ram who were murdered by a Muslim mob in the same manner during their journey to Gujranwala. He is too disturbed and asks the subinspector to call Haseena Begum, a Muslim prostitute from Chundnugger. He keeps Haseena overnight for comfort, but they do not have sex.
The next morning, The sub-inspector informs Hukum Singh about Malli and his gang. Hukum Singh asks if Malli is a Muslim or Sikh to which the sub-inspector informs that he is a Sikh. Hukum Singh tells him to free Malli and his men while keeping Jugga and Iqbal in custody. The head constable informs that some 50-60 Sikhs have arrived from Pakistan. Hukum Chand instructs the sub-inspector to ask the commander of the Muslim refugee camp to arrange for trucks to take Muslims of Mano Majra away. Hukum Chand thinks that had Malli has been a Muslim, along with Iqbal being a Muslim Leaguer, he could have easily persuaded the Sikhs of the village to send away their Muslim neighbors.
The sub-inspector goes to the police stations and instructs the head constable to leave Malli and his men in front of the villagers and ask Bhai Meet Singh about what Mohammad Iqbal, the Muslim Leaguer was doing in the village. The head constable follows the order and leaves Malli and his men in Mano Majra. When he asks the villagers about Mohammad Iqbal, they get confused because Bhai Meet Singh, Lambardar, and other villagers believed that Iqbal is a Sikh. However, this confusion creates doubt and suspicion in the minds of villagers. They just witnessed the atrocities done by Muslims on Hindu and Sikh passengers whose dead bodies they received in the ghost train. As the suspicion grows, things change in Mano Majra. Muslims no longer trust Sikhs, and Sikhs trust Muslims. That night, a group of Sikhs gathers at Banta Singh’s house. The Lambardar suggests that the Muslims go to the refugee camp until things settle down. The village will protect the Muslims’ belongings while they are gone.
Imam Bakh goes to his house and tells Nooran to pack her belonging as they will have to leave Mano Majra and go to Pakistan. Nooran doesn’t want to go because she loves Jugga. But Imam says that if they will not go willingly, they will be thrown out by the Sikhs. Nooran runs out and goes to Jugga’s home where she meets his mother. She asks for her help and informs her that she is pregnant with Jugga’s child. Jugga’s mother calms her down and tells her to go with her father. She assures her that when Jugga gets out of jail, she will ensure that he reunites with Nooran. Nooran is grateful and returns home.
The next day, a convoy of Refuggee trucks arrives at Mano Majra. A Muslim officer orders the Muslims of Mano Majra to pack their bag and board the trucks. A Sikh officer from the Sikh Refugee camp orders the Sikh refugees to occupy the Muslim properties while he appoints Malli as the custodian of all Muslim property of Mano Majra. At night, Mano Majra gets heavy rainfall and by the morning, the river Sutlej starts rising dangerously. Banta Singh and other villagers see the corpses of men, women, and children float by, marked by stab wounds. They realize that these are the victims of a massacre. The villagers decide to go to Gurudwara and pray for the dead people. A Sikh officer visits the Gurudwara and incites the Sikh people to take revenge and kill all the Muslims of Mano Majra who are still waiting at the Muslim Refugee camp for the train to Pakistan. The Sikhs then plot to kill all the Muslims. Bhai Meet Singh and Banta Singh try to calm down people and tell them that the Muslims are their neighbors and they have lived together like brothers but nobody is ready to listen to them. Banta Singh goes to meet Hukum Chand and informs him about the plan for Sikhs to kill all the Muslims at the refugee camp.
Hukum Chand learns that the Muslims of Chundnugger have also been shifted to Chundnugger. This reminds him of Haseena who is also in the Muslim refugee camp. He gets worried and thinks of ways to save Haseena. Hukum Chand asks the subinspector why he did not inform the train commander about the plan of Sikhs to kill the Muslim passengers. The subinspector says that if the train won’t leave on time, then the Sikhs will kill the Muslims in the refugee camp. Hukum Chand then decides to take the help of Jugga and Iqbal. Chand arranges for Jugga and Iqbal’s release and, in the official papers, writes Iqbal’s name as “Iqbal Singh,” explaining that no political party would send an educated Muslim to a Sikh village to preach peace.
Jugga and Iqbal go to the gurudwara and learn that all the Muslims have left Mano Majra for the refugee camp and Malli is the custodian of their property who is now much stronger than Jugga. Bhai Meet Singh informs about the plan of Sikhs to kill all the Muslims and requests Jugga and Iqbal to help and save Muslims. Iqbal is indifferent. He thinks of going back to Delhi but then thinks that Indians are unworthy of his risk to his life. He decides to drink alcohol and then goes to sleep. Meanwhile, Jugga is worried about Nooran and decides to save her anyhow. He learns the plan of Sikhs to derail the train to Pakistan by using a strong rope.
As the train arrives, the Sikh men spread themselves out on both sides of the train tracks. They hear the train coming. They planned that as the train will move forward, they will use the rope to derail it. However, as the train moves, they see a big strong man climbing on the steel span of the bridge through which they have tied the rope. The leader of the Sikh gang realizes what this big man is trying to do. He recognizes him as Jugga and if Jugga cuts the rope, their plan to derail the train will fail. He shouts for Jugga to come down but Jugga continues to cut the rope with his Kirpan. The Sikh leader then shoots bullets at Jugga but he doesn’t stop. The Sikh man then targets Jugga and shoots a volley of bullets at him. Jugga is shot and his kirpan also falls down but he cuts the remaining strand using his teeth. The Sikh man fires at him again and he falls down on the railway track along with the rope. The train passes by at the same time and goes over his body. While Jugga dies, he ensures the safety of the train to Pakistan and thus saves the life of Nooran and his child in her womb.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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