Train to Pakistan

This is a story of religious persecution and the aftermath of displacement. During the Partition of India in 1947, Hindus and Sikhs were made to move to India, and Muslims were forced into Pakistan, regardless of family history. Some families were displaced after many generations of living in one place or the other. As the refugees flee, they are exposed to constant violence which often crops up when Hindus and Muslims are in close proximity. Little by little, death and murder become the normal for these refugees. Muslims are deported on trains to Pakistan and Hindus on trains to India (nearly ten million in total) but within weeks, almost a million are already dead. The trains run continually, and people call them "ghost trains." In this frenzy of chaos and violence is Mano Majra, one of the last remaining peaceful villages on the frontier. Mano Majra is diverse, made up of Hindus and Muslims, but also Sikhs and Christian sympathizers. They depend on each other and live in harmony. Train to Pakistan begins with the murder of Lala Ram Lal, the Mano Majra moneylender, and one of the few Hindus in the community.