The paper provides a Neo-Marxist reading of Khushwant Singh’s celebrated novel "Train to Pakistan" (1956). It argues that the terrible violence and suffering of the 1947 Partition of India was not the result of an ancient religious animosity between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Rather they were the product of colonialism, political manipulation and an economic system set up to divide ordinary people for the benefit of the rich and powerful. The people of Mano Majra, a small village on the border, had lived together in peace for hundreds of years. They were united in everything: their work, their celebrations, their joys and their sorrows. But when the British left India and the country was split into two, outside forces pitted neighbor against neighbor. The police, the politicians, the religious leaders and the rich elite all contributed to the breeding of fear, suspicion and hatred. The paper argues that the novel of Singh is a powerful denunciation of the way the powerful use religion as a weapon to subjugate and destroy the common people. It shows that communalism is not about religion but about power, money and control. The novel remains painfully relevant today, a reminder that when ordinary people are divided, the elite always win.
- Quote paper
- Nirmal Gurung (Author), 2026, Derailed by Design. Colonial Capitalism, False Consciousness, and the Architecture of Annihilation in Khushwant Singh's "Train to Pakistan", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1745740
