If the people wanted my head I would bow without demur. If I had lost the confidence or respect of the people I would not want to live. The tragedy of the drama is that the very opposite is true.

In April [1972], after that fine business in Dacca, Yahya Khan sent for me. He looked satisfied, sure of himself, by now convinced he had the situation in hand. He offered me a drink. "Well, you politicians are really finished," he said. Then he said that not only Mujib but I too was considered an agitator, I too was preaching against the unity of Pakistan. "I'm always under pressure to arrest you, Bhutto" I got so angry I lost all control.

I can't destroy the whole army, and anyway [Tikka Khan] bad reputation for the events in Dacca is exaggerated.

For instance, in the name of unity. You can't build without destroying.

To conclude, the tragedy of March 25 [1969] caught me by surprise. Yahya Khan fooled even me.

We know who left the country. And many were Bengalis from West Bengal, sent from Calcutta. It was she who sent them - Mrs.[Indira] Gandhi.

[Mujib Rahman] is mad, mad! And they're all mad, the press included, who repeat after him, "Three million dead, three million dead!" The Indians had let out the figure of one million. He came along and doubled it. Then tripled it. It's a characteristic of the man - he'd done the same for the hurricane.