The military destabilised my government on politically motivated charges.

Like all children I had taken my father for granted. Now that I had lost him, I felt an emptiness that could never be filled. But I did not let myself cry, believing as a Muslim that tears pull a spirit earthward and won't let it be free.

I am planning to return and contest the October elections in Pakistan.

Right now, they feel they have lost their voice, and their miseries have increased since my departure.

The next few months are critical to Pakistan's future direction as a democratic state committed to promoting peace, fighting terrorism and working for social justice.

I dream ...of a world where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction

While living in America when I attended Harvard in the early 1970s, I saw for myself the awesome, almost miraculous, power of a people to change policy through democratic means.