I know you were surprised when, after the fall of Dacca, Pakistani and Indian officers shook hands. But do you realize that, up until 1965, in our army and the Pakistani one you could come across generals who were brothers? Blood brothers, sons of the same father and the same mother.

Life is a continuous process of adjustment.

We couldn't be everywhere, we couldn't see everything, and it was inevitable that some things would escape us.

I think one should do what seems right. And if what seems right involves danger...well, one must risk the danger.

As a nation, I believe we've acquired faith in ourselves.

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.

In all societies that have applied a form of socialism, a certain degree of social economic equality has been achieved.