Oppression does not know the meaning of provincial boundaries. Aren't our energies better spent fighting the common enemy instead of each other?

The military destabilised my government on politically motivated charges.

I was a very shy girl who led an insulated life; it was only when I came to Oxford, and to Harvard before that, that suddenly I saw the power of people. I didn't know such a power existed, I saw people criticising their own president; you couldn't do that in Pakistan - you'd be thrown in prison.

Purusing peace means rising above one's own wants, needs, and emotions.

Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism.

Military hardliners called me a 'security threat' for promoting peace in South Asia and for supporting a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

I'm not into smoke-filled rooms. I don't have the time for byzantine political intrigues.