Even to get Yahya Khan to reason was an impossible task - it only made you lose your temper.

Tikka Khan was a soldier doing a soldier's job.

The sanction of force stands behind the medley of personal orders and regulations of Martial Law. The sanction of the people's consent stands behind the hierarchy of laws. In one situation, the population is regimented into acquiescence. In the other, the population voluntarily establishes a contract with Parliament.

The fact is that when you talk about Mujib [Rahiman], everything seems so incredible. I don't understand how the world can take him seriously.

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 March [1972] the unity of Pakistan depended on the suppression of the secessionists. But to carry it out with such brutality on the people instead of on those responsible wasn't necessary. That's not the way to convince poor people who've been told that with the Six Points there'll be no more hurricanes, no more floods, no more hunger. I spoke out against such methods more emphatically than anyone else, and when no one dared do so.

I felt certain uneasiness, a strange sensation, which had comic to a head. Every evening I went to Yahya to report that Mujib [Rahiman] and I weren't making any progress, and Yahya [Khan] showed no interest. He looked away or complained about the television or grumbled because he couldn't listen to his favorite songs - his records hadn't arrived from Rawalpindi.