Based on the novel by Khushwant Singh, the film has a message that transcends the border of the little village where the action takes place. Mano Majra is a sleepy town on the Punjab border between India and Pakistan, where Sikhs and Muslims have lived peacefully for years. As the freedom struggle reaches its climax, the frontier becomes a scene of rioting and bloodshed. But the village carries on its tryst with peace and bonhomie until a train rattles in at an unusual time with an unusual cargo. This train from Pakistan is bursting forth with corpses of Hindus and Sikhs. A few days later, the gory incident is repeated and the village is unwittingly thrown into the cauldron of violence and hate.