In what way can the village of Mano Majra be considered a microcosm of India as a whole at the time the story was set?
In the text Train to Pakistan several aspects that reflect the reality of the former British Indian Empire are shown. These aspects are associated with the migration of people towards Pakistan after the partition, the existence of the Chundunnugger refugee camp, the haste of the Muslims to evacuate the village, the conception of Pakistan as a “heaven of refuge” and the division of families composed by both Muslims and Hindus. The characteristic violence of the migration movements after the partition is also presented.
The partition of India in 1947 was followed by “the largest mass migration in human history” [1]. Based on 1951 Census of displaced persons, 7 226 000 Muslims went to Pakistan from India while 7 249 000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan immediately after the partition [6]. These migration movements towards one of the two new nations were caused by religious differences between Hindus and Muslims and also by the fear of staying in a country belonging to a minority.
The migration from the Indian village Mano Majra to Pakistan was caused by the arrival of a train full of corpses and the assassination of the Hindu Ram Lal by a Muslim called Malli, although this village is presented as one of the last where tolerance existed between Hindus and Muslims. Due to the murder of Ram Lal a group of police investigators arrived at that location. According to the Head constable “the situation is serious” and he demanded the commandant of the Pakistan military unit “send his trucks and soldiers to evacuate the Muslims as early as possible. At once”.
The displacement of the Muslims from the village towards Pakistan wasn’t direct, because they passed first to a refugee camp called Chundunugger “and from there by train to Lahore”. This was a standard situation in the region because “both Governments constructed large relief camps for incoming and leaving refugees” [4].
One of the characteristics of the migration movement is its rapidity because it took place right after the announcement of the partition, nonetheless, the idea of the creation of Pakistan was thought of since 1930. This hurry was provoked in part by the haste of Lord Louis Mountbatten “in his attempt to transfer power as quickly and efficiently as possible”, one situation that is considered by contemporaries and subsequent historians “as a major contributory factor in the chaos that accompanied partition” [2].
We can see this haste in the text Train to Pakistan in the part where Imam Baksh and other Muslims attended a gathering to decide their future. They left the meeting and immediately Mr. Baksh went to his home and woke up his daughter to tell her that they, “have to go away tomorrow morning (because) those who stay behind are killed” [3]. Another reference of the celerity of the migration is shown by the Muslim officer who is leading the convoy to the refugee camp when he said, “We have a dozen trucks and all you people who are going to Pakistan must get on them in ten minutes. We have other villages to evacuate later on. (…) I give you ten minutes to settle your affaires. Then the convoy will move” [3].
This swiftness caused a lot of Muslims to take the decision to leave all their possessions behind. In the text Train to Pakistan “The Muslims left their bullock carts” [3] and other possessions because the only luggage they could take with them was what they could carry. We can assume that this situation happened in all India because the Muslims and Hindus wanted to be in their country as soon as possible with their equals.
Another reason exposed in the text Train to Pakistan to leave Mano Majra is that Pakistan was considered “a heaven of refugee”. In real life the idea to create a separate homeland for Muslims was advocated by the Muslim League in its annual session in 1930 and proposed once more by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1940 [2]. Pakistan represented a place where the Muslims would not be suspicious of the Hindu majority in the Indian National Congress, a place where the Muslims interests would not be taken into consideration by mainstream parties such as the Congress [6] and represented an opportunity to escape from the moneylenders – often Hindus [1].
Another characteristic presented in the text that reflects the reality in India is that “communities, families and farms were cut in two” [1]. In the text we can see that Nooran (Muslim) were carrying Jugga’s baby (Sikh). Because of her religion, she left the village and she had only had the opportunity to talk with Jugga’s mother. In addition Jugga was run over by the train headed to Pakistan that Nooan took, in the attempt to save her from a terrorist act plotted by Hindu fanatics.
The final aspect concerns the violence that characterized the displacement of the Muslims from Mano Majra towards Pakistan, shown throughout the text Train to Pakistan. The murder of Ram Lal by a Muslim, the arrival of a train from Pakistan full of corpses, the reference of the killing of those Muslims who stayed behind and the terrorist act plotted by Hindus and Sikhs against Muslims are the main ones [3]. The violence in real life was obvious to the world before and after the partition. On the 16 August 1946, Jinnah called for a Direct Action Day by followers of the Muslim League in support of the demand of Pakistan. The day dissolved into random violence and civil disruption across north India, with thousands of lives lost [1]. Also during the Kashmir conflict to claim control over the princely state of Kashmir [5] where thousands of people were killed. The estimate of the number of deaths caused by partition is approximately 500 000, with low estimates at 200 000 and high estimates at 1000000 [6].
In conclusion we can consider that the village of Mano Majra is a micro version of all India. The village is presented first as a place where Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lived peacefully but after two violent events this community began to divide. Several aspects addressed to the migration of Muslims from Mano Majra to Pakistan are presented and they can be extrapolated to the rest of the population of the former British Indian Empire.
REFERENCES
[1] BATES, Crispin. “The Hidden Story of the Partition and its Legacies”. www.bbc.co.uk
[2] KAUL, Chandrika. “From Empire to Independence: The British Raj in India”. www.bbc.co.uk
[3] SINGH, Khushwant. “Train to Pakistan”. 1956.
[4] Wikipedia Article. “History of the Republic of India”. www.wikipedia.org.
[5] Wikipedia Article. “Indo-Pakistani War of 1947”. www.wikipedia.org
[6] Wikipedia Article. “Partition of India”. www.wikipedia.org
[7] The image at the beginning of the article was taken on
http://msjillani.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/cid_21419040466web56604mailre3.jpg
Gustavo.
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