To Me The Function Of Politics Is

In The Western World, Women Have No Other Choice. In India, No. And I'll Explain The Reason. It's A Reason That Also Has To Do With My Own Case. In India Women Have Never Been A Hostile Competition With Men - Even In The Most Distant Past, Every Time A Woman Emerged As A Leader, Perhaps As A Queen, The People Accepted Her. As Something Normal And Not Exceptional.

Sometimes We Hurt One Another Without Realizing It.

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.

What We Do Now, On The Other Hand...don't Think That I'm Crazy About This Kind Of Politics. It's No Accident That I've Done Everything To Keep My Sons Out Of It, And So Far I've Succeeded. After Independence I Retired Immediately From Politics.

I Remember Harrowing Episodes. People Who Emigrated, People Who Didn't Want To Emigrate...many Muslims Didn't Want To Leave India To Go To Live In Pakistan, But The Propaganda Was That There They'd Have Greater Opportunities And So They Left. Many Hindus, On The Other Hand, Didn't Want To Stay In Pakistan, But They Had Ties There Or Property And So They Stayed.