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.

A dacoit named Malli and his gang of robbers are the ones who kill Lala Ram Lal, but the
inept police who oversee Mano Majra and the surrounding villages falsely imprison two men,
Juggut “Jugga” Singh and Iqbal Singh, for the crime. The town badmash, Jugga is a large
young man who has a bad reputation but a good heart. He is the lover of Nooran, the
daughter of the village imam, and a bitter enemy of Malli. Iqbal Singh is a social worker from
Delhi who comes to Mano Majra in hopes of inspiring the locals to take political action in the
new India, but he instead gets caught up in the confusion and violence of the frontier.
The night of Lala Ram Lal’s murder, Jugga was having a tryst with Nooran, and Iqbal hadn’t
yet arrived in Mano Majra. Still, the head constable arrests them, much to the chagrin of his
superiors, the subinspector and the magistrate, Hukum Chand. A practical, if slightly corrupt
man, Hukum Chand instructs the subinspector to keep Jugga and Iqbal in custody, but to
continue looking for the true killers.
One day, a “ghost train” from Pakistan arrives in Mano Majra. The villagers don’t know the
train is full of dead Hindus and Sikhs until the police and military burn the bodies. The
outside world is finally pressing in, and no one knows what to do. The arrival of the ghost
train leaves Hukum Chand shaken as well, and he must cling to Haseena, a young Muslim
prostitute the subinspector arranged for him, in order to fall asleep. When he wakes up the
next morning, the subinspector tells him Jugga gave him the names of the dacoits who killed
Lala Ram Lal. The magistrate orders the arrest of Malli and his gang, but continues to keep
Jugga and Iqbal imprisoned. He also tells the subinspector to contact the local Muslim
refugee camp and arrange for the evacuation of the Mano Majra Muslims.
Malli and his gang are hauled in, but as a part of Hukum Chand’s plan to convince Mano
Majra to evacuate its Muslim villagers, they are soon released. They are taken to the Sikh
temple in the village, and stand by as the head constable implicates Iqbal and a group of
Muslim dacoits in Lala Ram Lal’s murder. After sending these ripples through the town, the
head constable finishes by announcing that all Muslims in Mano Majra will be taken to a
local refugee camp.
These announcements, coupled with the arrival of the ghost train, split Mano Majra in half.
Muslims and Sikhs begin to look at one another suspiciously. A group of Sikh Mano Majrans
meet at the temple to discuss the recent events. One young man is infuriated and bitter
towards his Muslim neighbors, until someone suggests that Sikh refugees from Pakistan may
come to their village and harm their Muslims. The man’s loyalty to his neighbors overpowers
his own religious biases, and he vows to defend his neighbors. Imam Baksh and two other
Muslims join the group at the temple, and everyone discusses together what they should do.
After they go back and forth, it’s decided that the Muslims will go to the camp for now. Imam
Baksh leaves in tears to tell the other Muslims to pack up their property.
When her father tells her they must leave, Nooran runs to Jugga’s house, but he is still in jail.
She talks to Jugga’s mother, and reveals that she’s pregnant with Jugga’s baby. Jugga’s
mother calms her down, and convinces her that Jugga will find her wherever she is.
The next morning the convoy from the refugee camp arrives, but it can only take a limited
amount of property. It’s also revealed that the Mano Majrans aren’t staying at the camp
indefinitely, but will be deported to Pakistan. Panic ensues as everyone wonders what will
happen to the Muslims’ property. The commanding officer doesn’t care, and gives the
Muslims only 10 minutes to grab what they can carry and say their goodbyes. Malli is left in
charge of the property, and once the convoy is out of sight his band of dacoits and the Sikh
refugees from Pakistan raid and loot it.
Later that day, the Sutlej river begins to rise, and the focus of the village shifts to the dangers
that presents. The lambardar arranges a night watch to monitor the river in case of flooding.
As the men stand watch, they hear a train arrive at the Mano Majra train station. No one
gets out. Meanwhile on the river, dead livestock, thatch, and clothing come floating down.
When morning breaks, the men can clearly see the bodies of murdered men, women, and
children bobbing in the water. It’s clear another massacre happened upstream. The men
hurriedly return to the village to report the activity at the river, but find everyone’s eyes
glued to the train station. The train that arrived is another ghost train, and this time the
bodies are being disposed of in a mass grave.
At night, the atmosphere in Mano Majra is grim. All of the remaining villagers are gathered at
the gurdwara, because none of them wants to be alone. After Meet Singh, the Sikh priest,
ends his prayer, a group of militant Sikhs enter the temple. They intimidate some of the
Mano Majrans into helping them massacre a train of Muslims headed to Pakistan. The train
is coming from the refugee camp, which means Mano Majra’s Muslims will be on it. Despite
their sorrow the day before, no one from Mano Majra besides Meet Singh and the lambardar
speaks up and rejects the plan. Instead, several villagers, along with the Sikh refugees and
Malli’s gang, join the plot.
The lambardar goes to the police station at Chundunnugger and tells the subinspector of the
planned attack. Hukum Chand is flippant and tells the subinspector to let the Sikhs kill the
Muslims as long as the police aren’t implicated, until the subinspector tells him that Haseena
will also be on the train. At this news, Hukum Chand completely switches his position, and
comes up with a plan to save the train. He orders the release of Jugga and Iqbal, hoping that
they will somehow save the Muslims on the train. As the subinspector releases the two men,
he tells them the Mano Majra Muslims were evacuated, and that things in the village are
very different.
When Jugga and Iqbal reach Mano Majra, Jugga disappears to look for Nooran, hoping that
she has waited for him in the woods. Iqbal returns to the gurdwara, where Meet Singh greets
him and tells him of the planned attack. Iqbal is appalled, but ultimately decides to do
nothing, because no one would know of his sacrifice. He falls asleep drinking whisky, as Jugga
comes to the temple seeking a prayer. Meet Singh reluctantly agrees to pray over him, but
doesn’t explain what the prayer means when Jugga asks. Jugga thanks the priest anyways,
and asks him to say goodbye to Iqbal for him.
At the rest house, Hukum Chand remembers people he knows who suffered because of the
partition, and wishes that Haseena had stayed with him instead of going to her town. As the
train approaches Mano Majra, he begins to cry and pray. At the bridge, the mob is in place.
As they hear the train and watch it approach, they don’t notice a big man climbing the bridge
until he reaches the top. The man pulls out a knife and begins to hack at the rope intended
to kill the Muslims sitting on top of the train. The mob begins to shoot the man, but he
persists. Just as the train reaches the bridge, the bullets cause the man to fall, but the rope
breaks with him. The train rolls over him and continues, unscathed, on the way to Pakistan.