To better understand the situation surrounding the partition of India, Singh provides information about both religions involved. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians-or the Pakistanis” (48). “Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. When one such educated man was speaking to a villager about freedom, the villager explained, Also, small amounts of educated people trickled in and out of villages, trying to instill in people democratic, communist, or other western ideologies, though the common people were turned off and confused by their unorthodoxy. The law enforcement was completely at the whim of the local government, meaning that in practice, there was no law. They did just enough in terms of dealing with the dispute so that nobody could say that they did not do anything. Government officials were corrupt, manipulative of villagers, and could arrest anyone they chose for any reason, more often than not for their own benefit. If groups of people are examined on a closer level than their religious attachments, a more detailed social structure emerges. After the Muslims leave to a refugee camp from where they will eventually go to Pakistan, a group of religious agitators comes to Mano Majra and instills in the local Sikhs a hatred for Muslims and convinces a local gang to attempt mass murder as the Muslims leave on their train to Pakistan. We have lived amongst as brothers” (126). Upon learning that the government was planning to transport Muslims from Mano Majra to Pakistan the next day for their safety, one Muslim said, “What have we to do with Pakistan? We were born here. This made them especially susceptible to outside views. Villagers were in the dark about happenings of larger scope than the village outskirts, gaining much of their information through rumor and word of mouth. Singh shows how they lived in a bubble, surrounded by mobs of Muslims who hate Sikhs and mobs of Sikhs who hate Muslims, while in the village they had always lived together peacefully. Mano Majra, the fictional village on the border of Pakistan and India in which the story takes place, is predominantly Muslim and Sikh. Both shot and stabbed and speared and clubbed.

According to the Hindus, the Muslims were to blame. “Muslims said the Hindus had planned and started the killing. Examination of the varied groups of people not only increases cultural and social understanding of that time and place, but also shows that the blame could not be placed on any one group all were responsible. In a relatively short book, the reader gets to know a lot of characters in detail. Social structure and cultural understanding among the people about the book ( February 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. This section possibly contains original research.

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