The Western press has always insisted that India was Pakistan's enemy and vice versa, that the Hindus were against the Muslims and vice versa. They've never said, for instance, that my party has been fighting this attitude ever since we have maintained that religious hostilities are wrong and absurd, that minorities cannot be eliminated from a country, that people of different religions must live together.

I refuse to indulge in small talk. And compliments, if at all, I save for after the job is done.

When one has had a life as difficult as mine, one doesn't worry about how others will react.

Sometimes we hurt one another without realizing it.

To become capable, one must have faith in oneself.

Muslim women had to go out in purdah, that heavy sheet that covers even the eyes. Hindu women had to go out in the doli, a kind of closed sedan chair like a catafalque. My mother always told me about these things with bitterness and rage.

I've never understood women who, because of their children, pose as victims and don't allow themselves any other activities.