Department of History

The film was made to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Indian Independence but Train to Pakistan with its humanist message, remains a film for all times. Based on the novel by Khuswant Singh, the film has ha message that transcends the border of this little village where the action takes place. Mano Majra is a sleepy town on the Punjab between India and Pakistan, where Sikhs and Muslims have lived peacefully for years. As the freedom struggle reaches its climax the frontier becomes a scene of rioting and bloodshed. But the village carries on its tryst with peace and bonhomie until a train rattles in at an unusual time with an unusual cargo. This train from Pakistan is bursting forth with corpses on Hindus and Sikhs. A few days later, the gory incident is repeated and the village is unwittingly thrown into the cauldron of violence and hate. The hitherto sylvan landscape becomes a battlefield of conflicting loyalties and neither the Magistrate nor the police can stem the rising tide of violence and revenge. In the face of official helplessness hope lies only with few individuals who might still be swayed by humanitarian instincts. Juggut Singh, the village gangster, is one such hero who redeems himself by saving the Muslim community in this village from the wrath of the Sikhs, Jugga may have done it for a personal reason he was carrying on a clandestine affair with the daughter of a Muslim weaver. Nevertheless, his act becomes a living testimony of the fact that eventually it is the voice of reason and compassion that can save humanity from doom.