He speaks, thus, about the genesis of the novel: The beliefs that I had cherished all my life were shattered. The Partition of India and the violence it generated disillusioned Khushwant Singh 53Įnough to conceive the idea of writing a novel to express his mental agony and inner conflict. The holocaust that followed in the wake of the Partition of the country is considered one of the bloodiest upheavals of history that claimed innumerable innocent lives and loss of property. In the words of Warren French, “Singh’s terse fable suggests a profound disillusionment with the power of law, reason and intellect in the face of elemental human passions-Singh is brilliant, sardonic observer of world undergoing convulsive changes and his novels provide a unique insight into one of the major political catastrophies of this country. (Adkins, 11) The individuality in Khushwant Singh’s writings is on account of his anger and disenchantment with the “…long cherished human values in the wake of inhuman bestial horrors and insane savage killings on both sides during the Partition of the subcontinent between India and Pakistan in August 1947.” (Harish 126) The novelist brings to the centre stage the subsequent violence on both sides of the border manifested in ruthless mass destruction as well as the evil impact of Partition on the peace-loving Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of Mano Majra. Adkins has great praise for the novel when he says, Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan deserved a high position in Indian –Anglian literature. Majra to Train to Pakistan is in keeping with the theme of the novel.” (Shahane, 68) Joan F. This perhaps prompts V.A.Shahane to comment that “…the change of the title of the novel from Mano 52 Originally it is entitled Mano Majra which suggests static, while the present title, Train to Pakistan, implies change.
Partition touched the whole country and Singh’s objective in this novel is to see the events from the point of view of the people of Mano Majra, a small village, which is situated at the border between India and Pakistan. The natives were uprooted and it was certainly a horrible experience for them to give up their belongings and rush to a land which was not theirs. On the eve of Partition, thousands fled from both sides of the border seeking refuge and security. Train to Pakistan portrays the trauma of Partition that gave birth to two political boundaries-India and Pakistan. This also won for him the “Grove Press India Fiction Prize” for the year 1956. Khushwant Singh became popular with the publication of Train to Pakistan, his first novel, in 1956. The novel is considered one of the best novels on Partition. It is based on the theme of Partition of India into India and Pakistan, and hence it narrates the pathetic tale of individuals and communities caught in the swirl of Partition. TRAIN TO PAKISTAN Train to Pakistan, the first novel on the theme of Partition, is a brilliant and realistic story of political hatred, violence, and of mass passions during those turbulent and fateful days that preceded and followed the Partition of the British India.