Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s granddaughter, and Benazir Bhutto’s niece, writer Fatima Bhutto has an uneasy relationship with her political pedigree. Estranged from her aunt uptill her 2007 assassination, the 27-year-old keeps a distance from political involvement. Her new book, Songs of Blood and Sword, traces the Bhuttos’ history, returning to the day her father Murtaza was gunned down by Karachi police in 1996. From Karachi, in a phone interview with ANIRUDDHA SHANKAR, she speaks candidly on Benazir and Pakistan’s political prospects. Excerpts:
The tale of your father Murtaza Bhutto’s killing has been recounted so often in the press. In interview after interview and even now, in Songs of Blood and Sword you have returned to that fateful day. What effect has this had on you? How has this whole history shaped you -- are there aspects of your personality you can directly attribute to this?
I think that at a very young age, you come to realise that such incidents are far more common than once one thought. Whether it’s the killing of Amadou Diallo in New York, who was shot 19 times or Jean Charles de Menezes in London after 7/11, you come to realise that people in power can commit acts of terrible violence with little repercussion. I think that retelling his story and setting out to discover his life really opened my eyes.
When you were growing up, what did being a Bhutto mean to you?
Not very much, really. I grew up outside Pakistan in Damascus, Syria and being a Bhutto meant nothing to the people there. They could barely pronounce the name. (laughs) When I did come back to Karachi, I encountered a bit of curiosity from schoolmates but that’s about it. We were never made to feel like we were special or different children.
Full report
here Tehelka
No comments:
Post a Comment