ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਮੇਲ (Train to Pakistan)

The novel is set in Mano Majra, a small village on the border between India and Pakistan, in the summer of 1947. Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims live side by side until Partition. When a train arrives filled with the bodies of people killed in the violence, the village is pulled into the conflict. A murder, a love affair between a Sikh outlaw and a Muslim girl, and the doubts of a magistrate and a young activist all come together as the authorities plan to send the Muslim villagers away by train.

Singh writes with plain realism about the horror of Partition, and the book is a good starting point for those who wish to understand it.

Thought-provoking; a moderate read.

Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?