“According to the Hindus, the Muslims were to blame. The fact is, both sides killed. Both shot and stabbed and speared and clubbed. Both tortured. Both raped.”

The sectarian conflict tearing India apart in the wake of partition persisted in part because each side refused to take responsibility for the atrocities they committed. The determination of both Hindus and Muslims to blame their actions on the behavior of their enemies created a bloody cycle of violence.  

"The only remaining oases of peace were a scatter of little villages lost in the remote reaches of the frontier. One of these villages was Mano Majra."

The dichotomy between the violence raging at the center of the country and the relative peace in the untouched villages on the outskirts is brought into focus here. This quote sets the tone for the bucolic scene still found in Mano Majra

“What do the Gandhi-caps in Delhi know about the Punjab? What is happening on the other side in Pakistan does not matter to them. They have not lost their homes and belongings; they haven’t had their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters raped and murdered in the streets.”

The subinspector, frustrated with the deteriorating state of affairs in his district, shows his contempt for the elite government bureaucrats who are issuing orders. He argues that they haven’t been touched by the horrors on the ground in the same way other people have.