Karachi Halwa Quotes

“It may be pertinent to note that according to the reputed journalist Kuldip Nayyar, Nawaz Sharif had himself admitted to him some years ago that neither can Pakistan take away Kashmir from India nor can India give it away.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Pakistani textbooks ‘Hindu’ rarely appears in a sentence without adjectives such as politically astute, sly or manipulative.22”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Hindu girls were often reportedly kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam before being coerced into marrying Muslims.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Sadly, I found that many Pakistanis viewed these cricket matches not as between two national teams, but between Muslims and Hindus.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“I cannot forget the sense of disbelief that prevailed all over Pakistan after India won the final. Neither can I forget the eerie silence that descended over Karachi that evening as realisation set in that Indians were now the world champions in a sport which was the greatest passion for Pakistanis. It was as if Pakistan had gone into mourning! Within a few months, however, the Pakistani media had recovered its bravado and was waxing eloquent on the theme that the Indian victory over the mighty West Indies in the World Cup was proof that cricket was a game of glorious uncertainties.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“In recalling events when he assumed Pakistan’s captaincy, Imran Khan revealed his shock when umpires appointed for the test called on him and asked him for special instructions, if any!18 Recalling his 1982-83 tour of Pakistan, the Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri said: Imran and Sarfraz would make the ball swing, and then there were those two umpires Khizer Hayat and Shakoor Rana. It was like playing a four-pronged pace attack.19”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“I was amazed that the Pakistani authorities had done nothing to develop the tourism prospects of such a remarkable historical site. The ruins of Mohenjodaro were reasonably well maintained as it was a UNESCO Heritage site, but I could not spot any tourists. The Indian Foreign Secretary and his delegation were the only ones visiting Mohenjodaro, which was rather surprising given the archaeological importance of the place.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“One said that Islamabad was so beautifully maintained, whereupon someone else rather cynically remarked that Islamabad was one hundred miles from Pakistan.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“We were not allowed to leave the city limits of Karachi without prior permission, and such permission was rarely accorded. On the other hand, Pakistani diplomats in India merely had to intimate the External Affairs Ministry that they were going out of Delhi. This showed that we were not following the principle of reciprocity, which we should have been doing.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Throughout my posting in Pakistan, I was tailed by two persons whose faces are etched in my memory as I saw them following me all the time every single day on their motorbike.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Ironically, this negative approach did not hurt us as much as it hurt Pakistan. Because of their competitiveness, Indian goods still found their way into Pakistan. Smugglers were very active along the border and many Indian items reached Pakistan through them. Interestingly, Indian-made whisky was also among the items that got smuggled in, and brands like Haywards and Black Knight were available at a high premium in Karachi. I often had Indian whisky at Pakistani homes.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“I got the unmistakeable impression that not just military analysts like Brig. Siddiqui, but most Pakistanis wanted that Bangladesh should be avenged. Although I did come across some Pakistanis from time to time who genuinely wanted good relations with India, the majority did not wish India well, and would not do so in the foreseeable future.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Having downed more than a couple of drinks, his tongue loosened up and he said: “Mr. Dayal, very soon you will not be able to recognise the map of your country.” Clearly, he was hinting that Punjab was going to break away from India. I retorted that this would happen only if Pakistan itself ceased to exist as a separate country and re-joined India. He was quite miffed with my reply.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“In our conversations, Pakistanis would lament about how their film talent did not get adequate opportunities to realise their true potential due to government policies. Thankfully, Bollywood has helped out. If Pakistanis like Salma Agha, Javed Shaikh, Fawad Khan, Humaira Mallick, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan or Adnan Sami have got the international adulation they so richly deserve, it is only because Bollywood provided them the necessary platform to do so.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Riyadh and Islamabad were the only two world capitals at that time not to have a cinema house, and they have retained this unique distinction”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“The following year, Morarji was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. This made him the only person to have received the highest civilian awards from both India and Pakistan. However, in view of the ‘highest degree of service’ to Pakistan outlined above, one wonders if the Bharat Ratna should have been conferred on him.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“It is understood that when the Israelis wanted refuelling permission for the aircraft they were going to use to attack the Kahuta nuclear facility, Morarji refused to grant this permission.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Subsequently, Morarji revealed to Zia what India knew about Pakistan’s bomb-making facility at Kahuta and shared the information collected by the Indian intelligence agency RAW in this regard. It is understood that Morarji had a pathological hatred for RAW, which he mistakenly saw as an agency created by Indira Gandhi to be used against the opposition parties. Zia immediately took action to make Kahuta impregnable in case of external attack. He also destroyed the RAW network in Pakistan which had been carefully built up over years of painstaking efforts.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“One Indian leader whom Zia was able to win over completely by his guile, was Morarji Desai.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“US Government records, which were declassified later, show that the Reagan Administration was aware that Zia was lying to them about his country’s nuclear programme, but they allowed such concerns to be overridden by their diplomatic interests in Afghanistan.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa

“Zia enhanced the army’s stake in the corporate sector significantly. The Fauji Foundation, a corporate organisation run by the army, was expanded considerably during his tenure. It became one of the largest corporate groups in Pakistan.”
― Prabhu Dayal, Karachi Halwa