Lala Ram Lal
Lala Ram Lal is the moneylender of Mano Majra, and his family is the town’s only Hindu family. At the beginning of the novel, Malli and a pack of dacoits murder him, and attempt to frame Jugga for the murder.
Malli
A young dacoit who is the leader of a gang from another village. He and Jugga hate one another, and he attempts to frame Jugga for the murder of Lala Ram Lal. At the end of the novel, he is left in charge of the property of Mano Majra’s Muslim population.
Jugga/Juggut Singh
Juggut Singh, nicknamed Jugga, is the main protagonist of Train to Pakistan. A young, strapping dacoit with a good heart, he is the resident “bad boy” of Mano Majra. By the end of the novel, he redeems himself and saves the lives of Mano Majra’s Muslim people.
Nooran
Nooran is the daughter of Mano Majra’s Muslim weaver, who is also the mullah of Mano Majra’s mosque. She and Jugga often have trysts together, and by the end of the novel she is pregnant with his child.
Juggut Singh’s mother
Jugga’s no-nonsense, long-suffering mother disapproves of her son’s reckless ways but can’t do much about it. She’s the only one that knows Nooran is pregnant with Jugga’s child.
Alam Singh
Alam is Jugga’s deceased father. He was an infamous dacoit and was hanged two years before for murder. His reputation impacts that of his son.
Iqbal Singh/Iqbal Muhammad
Iqbal is an educated man from Delhi sent to inform the people of Mano Majra of various petitions for government reform.. Instead, he gets hauled into jail alongside Jugga for Lala Ram Lal’s murder, and accused of being a member of the Muslim League.
Bhai Meet Singh
Meet Singh is a priest and the guardian of the Sikh temple in Mano Majra. At the end of the novel when the band of Sikh extremists come to Mano Majra and gather volunteers to murder a train of Muslims enroute to Pakistan, he is the only voice of dissent.
Banta Singh
Banta Singh is the lambardar (local headman) in Mano Majra. He collects taxes for the state and thus is considered a local authority. At the end of the novel he informs the police in Chundunnugger about the plan to murder the Muslims on the train to Pakistan.
Hukum Chand
Hukum Chand is the magistrate and deputy commissioner of Mano Majra and the surrounding district. Morally questionable, he struggles with many of his decisions throughout the novel. In the end, he attempts to avoid a massacre of the Muslims in his district, and releases Jugga and Iqbal so they can stop the train massacre.
The Head Constable
The police officer who arrests Jugga and Iqbal, he is the lackey of Hukum Chand and the subinspector.
The Subinspector/Inspector Sahib
A corrupt official who imprisons Jugga and Iqbal although he knows they didn’t murder Lala Ram Lal. He starts the rumor that Iqbal is a member of the Muslim League in an attempt to further discredit him. He also threatens Jugga with torture so that Jugga will reveal the true identities of Lala Ram Lal’s murderers.
Imam Baksh
Imam Baksh is Nooran’s father and the imam and mullah of Mano Majra’s mosque. Blind, he is unaware of Nooran’s relationship with Jugga.
Haseena Begum
Haseena is a young Muslim prostitute who Hukum Chand solicits.
Prem Singh
A colleague of Hukum Chand’s who tries to curry favor with groups of English people.
Sundari
The daughter of Hukum Chand’s orderly. Four days after she and her husband Mansa Ram were married, a mob rapes her on her way to Gujranwala.
Mansa Ram
Sundari’s husband. On their way to Gujranwala a Muslim mob attacks their bus. The mob rapes his wife and cuts his penis off.
Sunder Singh
A Sikh war hero with a row of medals for victorious battles in Burma, Eritrea, and Italy. He shoots his children and wife when they are stuck for several days on a overpacked train to India with no provisions. He doesn’t have the nerve to kill himself, and eventually makes it to India safely.
The Leader of the Mob
A young man who comes to Mano Majra from a surrounding village. He incites the Sikhs of Mano Majra to turn on their Muslim neighbors, and devises the plot to murder the train of Muslims bound for Pakistan.
