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Gian Singh & Avtar Singh are officers with the Indian Army serving under the command of Andrew Stilwell, who lives with his sister, Margaret, in Delhi. During 1941 the trio are dispatched to active duty in Burma where Andrew is killed. Both Gian and Avtar return to their village in Sarsa, Punjab, where Gian lives with his widowed mom, Shanti. During 1947, after 350 years of occupying India, the British decide to leave, but not before separating Islamic Pakistan and secular India. Millions of Muslims crossed from India to Pakistan, while an equal number of Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians crossed over from the other side. A group of Muslims who were crossing over to Pakistan are attacked by a mob of sword wielding horse-riding Sikhs, and Hindus, including Avtar, many are slaughtered, but some do manage to escape. Muslims, in turn, kill all Hindus, Sikhs and Christian passengers on a train en-route to India. While Gian, who refuses to participate in any killing, is picking up wood for his fireplace, he comes a across a young Muslim girl, Naseem Khan, in hiding, and decides to shelter her. He brings her home with him, places a turban over head to make her look like a young Sikh lad, and hides her in a trunk from his mother. But the villagers do find out, while some want to outrightly kill her, others want her to leave. Gian donates some money for the displaced Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan, and asks the villagers to give him some time to locate her family from Pakistan and then send her on her way, to which they agree. Gian seeks the help of Margaret, who does her best to liaise with the Ministry of Unification of Families, but to no avail. In the meantime, Naseem adapts herself to the village life, and soon she and Gian fall in love with each other. Shortly thereafter both get married, and soon Naseem gives birth to a boy, Vijay. Years later, they get a surprise visit from Margaret, who has now located Naseem's family. Naseem's is thrilled, and departs to Kasur in Pakistan to meet her family, who she will be staying with for a month. When she does not return after 3 months, Gian approaches the authorities to travel to Pakistan, but is refused as only Muslims are permitted to cross over. He then converts to Islam, changes his name to Mohammad Hassan, and together with Vijay, obtains necessary documents to travel to Pakistan, but are stopped at the border and asked to bring further proof. Both father and son sneak in through the border fence and find a room in Lahore's Royal Hotel, managed by a Walter Hankins, a friend of Margaret. Gian goes to Kasur, finds Naseem's house - and it is here that he gets severely beaten up by Naseem's brothers, Abdul and Akbar, who, along with their mother, have been holding Naseem against her will in their house. The reason: Naseem's father was killed by a Sikh, and they refuse to permit her to leave the house and return to her family. What can Gian do under these circumstances, especially with his illegal entry into Pakistan, and also with sentiments still running high against Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians.
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