Join us to Seek Justice for Mir Murtaza Bhutto

Thursday, December 31, 2009

India 1st narrative journalism magazine hits newsstands on Jan 1

New Delhi, Dec 29 : India's first narrative journalism magazine 'The Caravan' will hit the newsstand countrywide on January 1, 2010...
A magazine on the lines of 'The New Yorker', 'The Atlantic Monthly' and 'The Harpers' and characterised by the longform narrative writing, 'The Caravan' is being published by the Delhi Press Group of Publications, a leading magazine house in the country with 31 magazines in 9 languages.'The Caravan', originally started in 1939 by Vishwa Nath, was stopped in the 1980s, and the group last year decided to revive the old brand and reposition it as a narrative magazine, a gentre not yet tried in India's mainstream journalism.The inaugural January issue of 'The Caravan' has a cover story on the India lobby in the US.Miranda Kennedy, a long time South Asia correspondent in New Delhi and now a controbuting editor with 'The Caravan', investigates on how the Indian American community flexes political muscle in Washington DC.The contributinge editors of the magazine are leading international names in non-fiction writing and longform journalism including Deborah Baker, Amitava Kumar, Fatima Bhutto, Siddhartha Deb, Chandrahas Chaudhry, Siddhartha Deb, Mira Kamdar, Salil Tripathi, Sadanand Dhume, Siddhartha Dube and Basharat Peer...

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

فاطمہ بھٹو کی آصف زرداری اور نواز شریف پر تنقید

کراچی : پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی شہید بھٹو گروپ کی چیئرپرسن غنوٰی بھٹو کی صاحبزادی فاطمہ بھٹو نے آصف علی زرداری اور میاں نواز شریف پر کڑی تنقید کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ دونوں رہنما قومی اسمبلی کے رکن نہیں لیکن اقتدار کی مراعات حاصل کررہے ہیں۔ برطانوی اخبار میں اپنے مضمون میں انہوں نے الزام عائد کیا کہ دونوں رہنما بدعنوان جماعتوں کے سربراہ ہیں۔ فاطمہ بھٹو کا کہنا تھا کہ موجودہ حکومت کے دور میں مہنگائی اور خوراک کے بحران میں اضافہ ہوا ۔ تیل، گیس اور بجلی کی قمیتوں میں اضافے کے ساتھ ان کا بحران بدستور برقرار ہے۔ انہوں نے این آر او کو بھی تنقید کا نشانہ بنایا اور کہا کہ اس قانون سازی کے ذریعے گیارہ سالہ کرپشن کو قانونی جواز فراہم کیا گیا۔ فاطمہ بھٹو نے کہا کہ قبائلی علاقوں میں صورتحال تشویشناک حد تک خراب ہے ۔ حکومت صدر پرویزکے مواخذے میں لگی ہے۔

Monday, December 28, 2009

The Rebel Inheritor by Jemima Khan (Vogue Interview)

Fatima Bhutto is beautiful, outspoken, fearless & the women many see as the rightful heir to Pakistan’s most powerful dynasty. But, she tells Jemima Khan, she refuses to beholden to the family name. Photographs by Jason Bell.

Like being a Kennedy in America, the legacy of being a Bhutto in Pakistan is inescapable. Fatima is infuriated though by the constant & inevitable comparisons with her aunt Benazir, whom she disliked: “It’s a bit of a lazy thing to do, to go, “You’re both women, you both have dark hair…” I don’t think I look anything like her. I don’t think I sound anything like her. And if I seem anything like her, then tell me how & I’ll change it.” Only 27, she has the soft-spoken authority, moral certainty & poise of someone much older.

I’ve met both Bhuttos & I tend to agree. Benazir was all kohl-lined eyes, crimson lipstick, instant hit glamour & regal haughtiness. Fatima is less photogenic & more intense, with a slow burn beauty & a face devoid of make-up, which you want to look at & which gets prettier the longer you do. They famously disagreed politically. Fatima was an acerbic critic not only of her aunt, but also of her aunt’s widower, the current President, Asif Ali Zardari, whom she regards as complicit, along with his late wife Benazir; in the murder of her father she adored.

If there’s a comparison to be made with her aunt is that Fatima is equally fearless. Politics in Pakistan, even on the periphery, is dangerous, especially if you’re a Bhutto. Now that Fatima has emerged as one of Pakistan’s foremost political commentators & civil rights campaigners, &its most outspoken critic of the current regime, she is, by her own admission, risking her life on a daily basis. Fatima’s father, uncle & aunt have all been murdered, & her grandfather executed. As she say, “It feels that every 10 years we bury a member of this family, & not from natural causes. My day to day life has changed since Zardari came to power. When the entire state machinery is in the hands of a man who you believed is involved in the killing of your father, you don’t go out unless you have to.”

As a result of her activism, she has a burgeoning fan club, especially among the young, as I discovered on a recent trip to Pakistan. One wide eyed daughter of a friend had a poster sized photo of her on her bed-room wall, & Fatima is regularly sent emails by young boys proposing marriage. Articulate, out-spoken & passionate, there are depressingly few female role models like for young women to look up to in Pakistan.

Although she says it is only in the past year that she has become recognized when she goes out, I first heard of Fatima more than a decade ago. It was shortly after her father’s death in 1996, when she was just 14. Murtaza Bhutto was Benazir’s younger brother & increasingly irksome political opponent. A year before he died, he had founded his own splinter party, PPP-Shaheed Bhutto, to challenge his sister’s government. I remember talk in Pakistan about the clever, gutsy, grieving Bhutto girl, who had dared to publish a book of poetry in which she lamented her father’s death & lambasted her aunt. There were whispers, even then, that she was the natural successor to the PPP (Pakistan People’s Party), which had been founded by her grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1967.

We had both moved to Pakistan at the same time in the mid-Nineties; she to Karachi from Damascus as an 11 year old, me to Lahore from London as a married 21 year old. We lost our fathers within a year of each other. We campaigned in the same election in 1997, both in faltering Urdu, she for her late father’s party me for my then husband Imran Khan. We studied for masters degree at the same university, The School of Oriental 7 African Studies (SOAS) in London, during the same period, 1994, but our paths never crossed.

We finally became friends a year ago, after I emailed her to congratulate her on a brilliantly mordant column in the New Statesman about General Musharaf’s erratic last months in power. After the death of her aunt, she wrote a series of searing condemnatory articles for local Pakistani papers. She now writes regularly for The Daily Beast, the New Statesman & occasionally The Guardian.

Since then, we have met a few times in London. I have introduced her to my friends & family here, & they have been charmed. She is surprising mixture. Earnest, even formal at times, then unexpectedly wicked & irreverent; quietly spoken but also an excellent mimic & confident raconteur. Her librarian manner contrasts with her animated, flirty expression & an occasional big, bawdy laugh. She speaks English in that charmingly prim way common to those who, though fluent, have learnt it formally as a second language; Arabic is her first. She was brought up in the Middle East until the age of 11 & educated at an American school. During her early twenties she studied in New York.

Fatima is in England to meet her publisher about her new book, Songs of Blood & Sword, which, she says, is about “my family, violence & Pakistan, & how the three of those move fluidly into each other over the course of 30 years”. Although she travels regularly, she lives in the historic Bhutto compound in Karachi with her stepmother Ghinwa, whom she refers to as her mother, & her two brothers, Zulfiqar (“Zulfi”), 18, & Mir Ali, five, who was adopted by Ghinwa when he was two months old.

As I arrive, Fatima is wriggling into an array of brightly coloured dresses by Roksanda Ilincic & happily chatting about Miliband’s flawed foreign policy in “AfPak”- a phrase she uses derisively- as well as about her shoe fetish, which she says, is hard to indulge without guilt: “ I come from a country where most people live way below the poverty line.” She is very careful never to sound frivolous. When she’s in London, she says, her favorite hang-out is Daunt Books on the Fulham Road, which “makes me sound like a nerd, which I am”, & her constant companion here, Sophie, whom she met while studying at SOAS, has also introduced her to the Mitfords. “Decca is my favorite. I am lugging her huge book of letters back to Karachi with me.”

Fatima is tiny, both in height & girth, & the slinkier shapes are more flattering. There’s a constant debate- one with which I’m all too familiar- about what she can & can’t get away with in terms of dress & undress. These photographs, once they are published, will be picked up by the media in Pakistan & if deemed inappropriate, used as a stick with which to beat her. Although Fatima often dresses in jeans, T-shirts & ballet pumps in Karachi, her refusal to kowtow to the more conservative elements in Pakistan has got her into trouble in the past. When Fatima was campaigning during the last election in 2007 for Ghinwa, who took over her late husband’s PPP-Shaheed Bhutto party, party workers threatened to quit if she refused to cover her hair. “Very begrudgingly- & I’ll never do it again- I put a duppata(veil) on the back of my head. After my mother lost, people came & said, “You lost because your daughter didn’t cover her hair.” Nothing makes those people happy,” she says, adding resolutely, “I realized I could either be bullied & stop wearing what I wear, which is by no means indecent, so that some random person in Faisalabad feels better or I can do what I like.” It’s not just what she wears that has become a public issue. The Pakistani rumor mill was sent into a spin recently when the National Enquirer published a story claiming that Fatima was having an affair with George Clooney. Then there were the reports that she was to star in a Bollywood movie. Neither were true.

“There were a lot of angry calls after that Bollywood story. I felt so violated,” she says calmly. Though Fatima is currently single, she doesn’t see anything wrong with having a boyfriend. “I will marry for love, & not necessarily a Pakistani or a Muslim,” though not, she says firmly, in the foreseeable future.

“Because what I say about the government is very serious, there’s always this effort to make me look silly & frivolous,” she explains. “But that makes me even more determined.” It helps that there has never been any such pressure from her family. Whereas for many young Pakistanis there is “this private/public persona- you’re one person with parents & another with friends”- this was not the way she was brought up by her liberal, secular parents. “The rule growing up was that you don’t hide anything, so there was never any need to rebel.”

Fatima was born in Kabul in 1982 to an Afghan mother three years after her grandfather, Zulfiqar, was executed by General Zia-ul-Haq. She was raised in Damascus until the age of 11, where the Syrian president, Hafez al-Asad, who was a supporter of her grandfather’s, had offered the family refuge. When she was three, her parents divorced. She was never close to her birth mother & had little contact with her while growing up. When Fatima was 14, there was a traumatic episode when her mother appeared in Pakistan to file for custody. The case was orchestrated, Fatima suspects, by her aunt Benazir: “It was her attempt to get rid of us after Papa was killed.” The case was eventually thrown out of court.

“My father was always the parent. He took me to school & cut my hair & put me to bed & all those things,” she recalls. When Fatima was five, her father met & later married Fatima’s dance teacher, Ghinwa, who assumed the role of mother. They are exceptionally close. Fatima jokes, “We are now more like husband & wife- I play bad-cop mother to her good cop.” She describes “a decent, proper childhood in Syria. It was pretty ordinary life, easier & happier than when we returned to Pakistan.”

Above all, they were safe. Though secure & happy in Syria, Fatima says, “I always knew I wasn’t home. My father spoke about Pakistan every day & longed to be back there.” He duly returned in 1993 to challenge his sister’s government but was arrested at the airport 7 charged with more than 90 crimes. By the time Fatima arrived in Pakistan a month later, he was already in jail, where he remained for eight months. “It was a huge shock. My father was in solidarity confinement. I was in a new country, a new school. We were allowed to see him once a week for 40 minutes, not a minute more.” As her father became more critical of his sister-now the prime minister, whose own popularity was waning- so Benazir became increasingly aggressive towards him.

Then in September 1996, Fatima’s life would change irreparably. Her beloved father was shot at point blank range after an altercation with police less than a block from home. She remembers, “When I heard the shots, I was worried. So was my mother. Zulfi was six at the time. We were in the drawing room, which didn’t have windows, & he said, “Don’t worry, Fati- it’s just fireworks.” The police told us there had been a robbery & wouldn’t let us leave the house.”

Ironically, it was her aunt’s husband, Zardari, who told her about the shooting. “He said, “ Don’t you know? Your father has been shot.” And I dropped the phone.”

Fatima & Ghinwa drove straight to the hospital, driving past the crime scene right outside their home, which, sinisterly, had already been cleaned up- as happened almost a decade later when Benazir was assassinated in Rawalpindi. “No glass, no blood. Nothing was there. So we thought he must be fine.” In fact, he had been shot five times. “The autopsy showed that the last fatal shot was fired by someone standing over him. Whilst we were trapped in our house, he was bleeding outside for 45 minutes. Our way of thinking changed 360 degrees after that. I became aware of the full extent of the danger,” Fatima says almost inaudibly. It’s clear that the injustice & brutality of her father’s death has been a driving force for her, & when she talks about him, she’s close to tears.

Recently, in her still grief-stricken battle with Zardari regime, she has again been publicizing her belief that her aunt & uncle were responsible for her father’s killing. A judicial tribunal of inquiry ruled that it could not have happened “without approval from the highest level of government”, & that Benazir’s administration was “probably complicit” in what was a premeditated assassination. But Benazir always maintained the shooting was organized by her enemies in the military; “Kill a Bhutto to get a Bhutto,” as she said at the time.

The truth will probably never emerge. Zardari was arrested & charged with Murtaza Bhutto’s murder after Benazir fell from power, & spent 11 unconvicted years behind bars before being acquitted under a law that dismissed all charges against political figures, brought in at Benazir’s insistence before she would return from exile to Pakistan.

After her father’s death, it required three hours notice before Fatima could leave her house & she was always accompanied by soldiers. Still today, she is shadowed at all times in Pakistan by a retinue of loyal guards. “They are now like family,” she says.

Fatima insists that despite the dangers, she will always remain in Pakistan, though she is adamant that she will never enter politics. Many in Pakistan refuse to believe this, & others insist she is the real heir to the Bhutto dynasty. In a country like Pakistan, where clans & names bear such significance, Fatima- unlike her cousin, Benazir’s 20-year old son Bilawal Bhutto- is a direct descendant of the male line. And at least she has some work experience. (Although that is not always a prerequisite for power. Her aunt’s first ever job was PM of a 160 million-strong nation.) “ Politics should not beheld hostage by the very few.” Fatima says. Besides, she says, despite being born into Pakistan’s most famous feudal family, when she was growing up she wanted to be a professional swimmer, a lawyer &, at one point, to her father’s dismay, an actress.

Now she is more interested in her writing & social activism. “ There’s a lot more that can be done from the outside. You’re free to say what you like & maybe you can be more productive, unfettered,” she admits. The writer & historian Tariq Ali agrees, saying of her, “In a country where sycophancy recurs with miserable regularity, her writings are sharp, refreshing & fearless.” The writer AA Gill is also a fan. “Most Pakistani polemic is written in spittle. Hers is written in honey,” he says. She has written a book of poetry & her first book was an account of the 2005 earthquake. Her new one will be published in April next year, then she says she wants to write another about her hometown, Karachi. She spends her days either at her computer writing, or working in Karachi’s sprawling slums & women’s jails, where poor rape victims languish on charges of adultery & cannot afford legal representation. She also travels abroad to speak about Pakistan at conferences.

Given all the problems in her home country, her optimism surprises me. She refuses to envisage the doomsday failed state scenarios predicted by some analysts: “Pakistan is a new country, only 62 years old. This government will go, the war will end- neither are sustainable. We Pakistanis have to remember that & focus on building a more just, more empowered, more democratic future.” She pauses, reflects & then laughs loudly. “Ugh. I hate it when I sound like a politician.”

For the time being, she’s off for a month’s holiday with her family to “a tiny incredibly boring village in Europe where nothing much happens.” She’s reluctant to be more geographically specific for security reasons. This is the one haven that she visits every couple of summers where she can leave behind the security guards & armoured vehicles, the head-pounding heat & the political intrigues. It provides the perfect antidote to her pressure cooker life in Pakistan. There may be “only one newspaper store in the whole village”, but at least it’s safe to visit it.

Source: Vogue Magazine.
Credit: Zehra Ansari
The FanClub Team is thankful to Zehra Ansari for providing us with this write up.

Team Note*
Please go and buy the issue of Vogue nonetheless and support Fatima Bhutto. There are excellent pictures of her in the issue (For those in Britain/USA it is the British Oct 09 issue). In some other regions, the issue has still to come out, please support the magazine and buy a copy.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Tension and terror in Pakistan by Fatima Bhutto

Fatima Bhutto on why the pro-American government is at war with its own people...

It all changed this year in April when the government decided to sign a deal with Islamic militants who had taken over the Swat valley, which allowed them to impose Sharia law in the areas they controlled. It set a terrible precedent of negotiating with people who have seized territory by force.

Then, a month after signing, the deal was rescinded and the army went in. Not only does that send conflicting signals, but to have the militants fighting against a Pakistani army that is backed by American airpower mythologises the Taliban in a way that is not at all helpful. It created a huge refugee population, but was then declared a success; now the army are doing the same thing in South Waziristan.

The deal with the militants and the fighting that followed revealed the extent to which Pakistan is now doing the bidding of the US. In a country where so much is centred around the national armed forces, to see the army so closely aligned with America was very ugly. The sight of Pakistani troops fighting other Pakistanis brought back terrible memories of the war in Bangladesh [which saw Pakistan split in 1971, amid widespread brutality].

It is simply embarrassing for a sovereign country to be told what to do or told who we are by another power. Richard Holbrooke [the American special envoy to the region] comes here and lectures us, telling us that we are supporters of the Taliban if we do not support legislation on Pakistan in Washington, and then lumps us and Afghanistan together in this new word "AfPak". It's a ridiculous term. We are two separate countries with not much in common.

The problem in places like Swat is very basic: the state has no presence at all, so the people there are dependent on non-state actors who fill the gap, providing education, law and order. These militant groups become the government.

Nonetheless I remain optimistic for the future of Pakistan. This is a young country, 62 years old. It is rich in resources, in oil, gas, in agriculture. It has a hugely capable population. This is not a failed country but a failed system of government. And that can be changed...

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/27/pakistan-swat-valley-militants-bhutto

In Solidarity by Maple


The New Bhutto on the Block

Fatima Bhutto on dynasty and politics

Friday, December 25, 2009

Fatima Bhutto entranced audiences in Galle

As part of the ongoing Galle Literary Festival annual programme, Fatima Bhutto entranced audiences in Galle with her perspective on "Women in politacl dynasties." From the creation of the Bhutto political dynasty in 1950's to the conspiracy theories of her ill fated uncle, aunt and father her frank views on her family and her stated stance that she has no interest in dynastic politics intrigued all who attended the evening at The Sun House in Galle. For details of our next festival see
www.galleliteraryfestival.com

Source:
http://www.thesunhouse.com/detailnews.php?id=53

Pre-order your copy of Songs of Blood and Sword by Fatima Bhutto



Here is the link where you can pre-order Fatima Bhutto's upcoming book "Songs of Blood & Sword"
http://www.rbooks.co.uk/product.aspx?id=0224087533


Synopsis:

In September 1996, a fourteen-year-old Fatima Bhutto hid in a windowless dressing room, shielding her baby brother while shots rang out in the streets outside the family home in Karachi. This was the evening that her father Murtaza was murdered, along with six of his associates. In December 2007, Benazir Bhutto, Fatima’s aunt, and the woman she had publically accused of ordering her father’s murder, was assassinated in Rawalpindi.It was the latest in a long line of tragedies for one of the world’s best known political dynasties.


Songs of Blood and Sword tells the story of a family of rich feudal landlords – the proud descendents of a warrior caste – who became powerbrokers in the newly created state of Pakistan. It is an epic tale full of the romance and legend of feudal life, the glamour and licence of the international political elite and ultimately, the tragedy of four generations of a family defined by a political idealism that would destroy them.


The history of this extraordinary family mirrors the tumultuous events of Pakistan itself, and the quest to find the truth behind her father’s murder has led Fatima to the heart of her country’s volatile political establishment.It is the history of a nation from Partition through the struggle with India over Kashmir, the Cold War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan up to the post 9/11 'War on Terror'.


It is also a book about a daughter’s love for her father and her search to uncover, and to understand, the truth of his life and death. It is a book about a family and nation riven by murder, corruption, conspiracy and division, written by one who has lived it, in the heart of the storm.


Songs of Blood and Sword is a book of international significance by a young woman who has already established herself as a brave and passionate campaigner.

What the critics say:
If there is anyone born to write this story, it is Fatima Bhutto- William Dalrymple
Amazon:
Tesco Books:
http://www.tesco.com/books/product.aspx?R=9780224087537&bci=452Family%20trees*23Coming%20Soon*12%C2%A310%20to%20%C2%A320


Merry Christmas


Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team would like to wish all its readers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Bhuttos at Al-Murtaza




Credit:Jahanzaib Rashid

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Individuals with Honest Intentions

Currently we are facing multiple problems which need to be resolved simultaneously as they are extremely integrated. So when it came to my turn to choose a topic I was entangled in confusion, couldn’t prioritize any one topic that according to me should take the first note. The thought of focusing on the intentions of our organizers hit me quite hard, because some of our problems exist just because of the fact that nobodies interested in doing things the right.

Proper management makes life easy for everyone & the issue is not the level of difficulty that exists in its execution but the intent of the managers. A lot depends on one’s intent. Directed in a positive direction it can do wonders & if directed in the opposite direction it is capable of creating the havoc that hasn’t even crossed our imagination.

Our freedom from the British Empire proves the ability of the intent & determination to fulfill that intent; do we need any more role models to convince us of the wonders of honest intentions?

Honest intention is what majority of our politicians’ lack. Something, that the common people all know & agree to. This is what has kept one of the world’s most resourceful & rich areas drowned in the shekels of poverty. We have the natural resources & even the most brilliant minds (our professionals serving around the global is proof enough), then our present circumstances means that we have & still are doing something direly wrong.

Isn’t it high time that we actually pin point our faults & hit them right in the centre? We just talk optimism but all our actions are directed towards pessimism. The world & specifically sub-continent talks peace but invests most of its resources on arms deals (legal/illegal). Our generation has been taught that the other is the demon & the only cause of each other’s problems. Those who sell us this crap have their personal vested interests in it that too short lived, but I guess we are the ones who are to be blamed the most because we buy it with both hands wide open & proved these hypocrites the fuel to spread their fire. A very simple rule of economics can be applied here, if the demand decreases so will the production. Just give few minutes to the significance of this law & we will be able to realize our own level of contribution.

So the change that we are expecting to trickle down from the top has actually got to work in the opposite direction. Now we have to decide whether we are going to be the initiators of the change or let our future generations suffer even more than what we are going through. This decision depends on our INTENTIONS!!!

-Fatima Arif

The big books of 2010


by Nilanjana S Roy / New Delhi December 19, 2009



Fatima Bhutto’s Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter’s Memoir (Penguin) should be every bit as melodramatic as the title.



Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/the-big-books2010/379979/

Friday, December 18, 2009

Bye Bye NRO

By now most of us must be aware that the NRO-National Reconciliation Ordinance, the notorious law, created by Musharraf that granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder, and terrorism between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999 has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

This means that all those ministers who were able to continue with their shady practices as a part of the government can no longer do so, with the NRO being declared void. One of them, being the President Of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari. Of course, although currently his name isn’t on the list, it is fairly certain that his innings is on a sticky wicket.

Fatima Bhutto has campaigned extensively and fearlessly voiced her dissent against this ridiculous law for a very long time now. We are happy that her efforts have not gone in vain. Hopefully, this will usher in a new start to Pakistani politics and Pakistan in general.

We hope, this landmark ruling makes those accountable, who for a long time now have been enjoying the amnesty that this law brought.

Congratulations Fatima Bhutto for what is a very moral victory for you…

Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Thoughts about the Campaign


Through these past 7 days, both Fatima Arif and I, in spite of our personal hectic schedules, found it rather effortless to make time for this justice drive. It came easy to us, because we both had this burning zeal to fight for a cause, one which we both truly believe in!


My friends have found it rather baffling, why I would so fervently campaign for a case, and invest so much of my time, when I am not remotely connected to its outcome or to the society that it is a part of! They reckon it has got to do with my admiration for Fatima Bhutto rather than anything else.


Probably, a big part of it is, because it is connected to Fatima Bhutto, a woman whom we both so respect-a reason why this club was formed and is so active. She has been the reason, why I have been acquainted with this injustice. But to call my choice to choose and voice my displeasure, as just merely, an act stemming from the fascination with her public persona, is akin to stating that Edison invented the light bulb (practical one at least), only because he wanted light for himself from the darkness.


I was raised to believe in democracy and equality. My grandparents were proud of being the children of democracy. It is all I heard growing up, how I must value this inheritance. Today, they both are no longer with me, but their words still guide me ‘Always stand up against what is Wrong, even if the supporting the Right does not make your life any better. It shall someone else’s’.


Martin Luther King Jr has said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” That is my reason to be part of this struggle, and I am proud to be contributing in any miniscule way I can! This week has been about that, about fighting to preserve my own rights and my own conscience, for in today’s world no vacuum can exist. What happens in your neighborhood will percolate its way to your own home. You have to choose to say ‘NO’ this cannot happen.


The cynics might say ‘What good will a few days of expression do? What difference will the voice of an ordinary person make to this struggle?’ Look through the eyes of an optimist and you shall see, it to be perhaps the biggest contribution of them all. Because, it makes you as a person accountable to the choices you make, the causes you support and the rights you want to preserve! Imagine if every single person, were to do that, the true change that can come by in this world. By being accountable to yourself, you are being accountable to a whole world. Now do you see what these little efforts can do? It can make people not forget, that there is a right in this world, which is being wronged. It can keep it in their memory, which cannot be done in any other way. It can make them THINK, why are they so invested in this fight? Should I be too?


Both Fatima Arif and I have been extremely proud, of what we have accomplished over these past few days. What started off as a show of solidarity to Ms. Ghinwa Bhutto’s call has turned out to be a good personal journey for the both of us! It has given us moments of happiness, stress, anxiety, pride. But most of all it has given us, this lesson that ‘If each one of us makes a little effort, there is not much that we cannot accomplish. If we are united, the divisions burn away. That in another person’s fight against deceit lay our own truth ’


We thank you for being part of this week long project along with us. The fact, you were here, you read what we wrote and supported us with your feedback, is proof enough of the fact that, we are kindred soul. This is not the beginning; neither can this be the end. This is our journey, a journey to get justice for 6 families and in the process preserve the justice of millions of others. We hope, you will continue to be part of this journey with us. We appreciate it and we do believe all those 6 families do so too.


We Won’t Forget; We Will Not Let Others Forget Either….


Jab tak apne andhere ko na mahsoos kar sake
Kisi aur ke roshani se hum kya wafa kar pate?
Andhere mein jab apne khauf se mulaqat ki
Shaam dhalte hi humne roshani ki kadar ki.


Optimistically yours,
Karishma and Fatima Arif

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Peace & Defiance- Day 7

DAY 7

In the present time & age all of us are desperate to attain some level of peace. As Robert Fulghum said “Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.”

Time for some reality check! Feeling guilty somewhere inside? Should be; still it won’t be too late if we start afresh right here right now. We have been only wishing for Peace, something which is a big NOT TO DO point. Our actions don’t even remotely reflect that we want to establish peace. “Peace is something you are”; so actually all this chaos around us is a reflection of our inner self. Isn’t it beautiful?

After all we are the species created to rule the universe; we have walked the moon & our ambitions know no boundaries. So what if we have destroyed the basic essence which qualified us for this ruling position in the process of attaining this superiority. When the hell are we going to wake up from our stupor? Even the law of the jungle teaches its inhabitants to live in harmony with one’s own kind, so that they can survive.

Aren’t the humans (I love using the term Homo Sapiens due to my long lost love for the subject) part of the same kind & hence, according to the theory of the matter supposed to live in peace to survive?

Oh well, but then political theory makes lot of sense & the phenomena designed in the books makes lot of sense; however, practical globalization politics makes little sense to anyone with even a minute quantity of something called sanity. So why look up to those who don’t make sense to us. But then we can’t completely reject the most important institution which affects each & every aspect of an individual’s life.
So it seems that the thought we have been trying to hide from has suddenly slapped us in our faces. It’s the individual who first needs to make peace within him/her before expecting that it be given back. Now how do you do that?

Well what my grey cells tell me is that the thought of getting things straightened up from top to bottom should be thrown out of the window, & let us start working the other way around.

We aren’t short of examples around us who have showed us how it’s done, we just need to dig deeper. Let’s start making peace before the term humanity is replaced by animality in the dictionary.
-Fatima Arif







When he was born we rejoiced with unabated joy
We all questioned him, son do you feel supreme?
To be born true heir, to an empire so regal
But forgot to question ourselves, would he want to paint his own dreams?


When he was six, we grieved at his irreparable loss
We all wondered together, son don’t you feel hatred?
To not be able to seek blood for blood
But forgot to wonder ourselves, who will read him his stories in bed?


When he was twelve, we revered his brief appearances
We all asked him, son can you get all of these men to gather?
To find a way, to get our own seat of power
But forgot to ask ourselves, he might be missing playing basketball with his father?



When he was seventeen, we burdened him with our needs
We told him, son will you step up now and claim our lost glory?
To rightfully take revenge after all these years
But forgot to tell ourselves, he has the right to choose the chapters of his life's story.


When he will be twenty two, we will pressurize him with our impatience
Remind him, Son will you come and rejuvenate our dying spirit?
To keep all of our morals united in this cynical world.
But forget to remind ourselves, what good can a captain be without his ship?


Shouldn’t before that a time come


When we turn a year older, and he will soothe all our hearts with his smile
Vowing to us, that we have as a society, upheld his rights of justice and peace
To not doubt that this peace is a sustainable endeavor
But not forgetting to vow himself, never again, will he let another childhood be lost to injustice.



In Solidarity

Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team


*Copyright-Fan club
Nothing can be reproduced without permission

Friday, December 11, 2009

Victory & Defiance-Day 6

Day 6

Victory is important; those who deny this are out right liars. The main issue here is of the means & sustainability of the victory. Manipulating the truth & proving oneself the righteous one is a short lived victory. I won’t even term it victory because you can fool the world for as long as you want, but then how does one fool one’s own self? Or have some of us actually mastered this skill? Is it attainable? Lot of unanswered questions, but then again we have mastered the skill of living with the unanswered as if they didn’t exist.

Long term & permanent victory is what the far sighted people work for. It’s a slow process which requires determination. And determined they are. In the end their victory is going to stand tall above the rest without any effort of being identified as the VICTORY.

by Fatima Arif








When this Victory will come you shall see,


It wouldn’t matter to get there


If it took us years twenty, fifty or even seventy


The look, at that moment in the eye of the enemy


As we walk away with our last tear stained faces


Will set all of us from the ghosts of our past free.


We have been a candle to one another in this darkness


Given more to each other, often as strength within us seemed less.


Hold on for another day, another week, another year.


Don’t fear the journey now, look ahead rather than focus at the rear.


What good will that win be, in which some of us quit today forever


Tomorrow would bring no joy, if we don’t share this struggle together


Victory shall greet the hearts of only those few


The minds of those, whom defeat never, knew



In Solidarity

Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team


Copyright-Fan club

*Nothing can be reproduced without permission from the club

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Determination & Defiance-Day 5

Day 5

“We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.”

This quote sums it up quite appropriately; determination too is not depended on numbers. The sheer will of a single individual or a small group is capable of changing the course of our history. A phenomena, that has been proved time & again.

These determined souls are never given justice in due course, it’s always a delayed commodity thrown at them; (which most of them aren’t around to catch). But then is being justified even on the priority list of these individuals? Don’t think so. They are all too willing to get killed at the hands of the system; the ruling juntas etc BUT will never let history kill them.

So far history has proven its cardinal for being the best & the most fair Judge. It kills the wrong doers in such a way in which they themselves could not think of eliminating these head strong individuals. They have a common slogan of “Bring it on” they don’t whine like the most powerful when held accountable for their actions. Not interested in repeating their school days excuses of why they didn’t complete their homework.

For the time being the masses can be fooled by manipulating their lack of knowledge especially by cashing on the religious weakness. And yes this strategy works no doubt fulfilling the junta’s short term goals. The long lived are the one’s titled as the traitors, terrorist & the related vocabulary which can be thought of making them look like the demons of the world;Destructors of Peace, Truth & Justice, something they are putting their lives at stake for; evaluation system is strange isn’t it?

Long story cut short, the “bring it on” types are here to stay (their existence is not dependant on their physical presence) the power houses are free to materialize whatever destructive innovations they can come up with.

-Fatima Arif








In Solidarity

Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team


Copyright-Fan club
*Nothing can be reproduced without permission from the club

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Truth & Defiance- Day 4

Day 4

Innocent until & unless proven guilty is getting over-rated in our times. Super intelligent people have devised methods to go around the justice system. Proving the truth is getting difficult day by day; so I am transferring myself to that group which follows the concept of Guilty until & unless proven innocent. Sounds a bit harsh, well the truth is always harsh, isn’t it?

The TRUTH is that we are designing more & more rules for almost every aspect of life but are not ready to practice even the most primitive ones. The TRUTH is that the present destruction of the society (which is still under debate whether it is a concept or a reality among sociologist) is mostly due to the denial of truth & justice to the major percentage of those who compose this complex system termed; society. The TRUTH is each & every one of us is responsible in one way or the other. Some of us tend to ignore it, some of us are ready to go along with the system until & unless they are not personally affected by it (who cares what the others are going through, after all GLOBALIZATION is just another hip term of the 21st century).

However, no matter for how long the TRUTH is bent or twisted in the end it is the only thing that stands out for all to witness & feel ashamed for not supporting it at the right time.
by Fatima Arif








What happened is not to be proved, it is the truth

How you manipulated that truth; that has to be proved.

The support that I have need not worry you, it is the truth

How that truth will destabilize your own; that is what you must worry about.

My years spent in honoring this struggle need not be calculated, it is the truth

When will yours give up to that truth; that has to be calculated.

That I will win need not be debated, it is the truth

How long before you lose to that truth; that has to be debated.

In my truth, lays yours.

In your lies, still my TRUTH resides.






In Solidarity
Fatima Bhutto FanClub Team


Copyright: Fan Club
*Nothing can be re-produced without permission from the club.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Unity & Defiance-Day 3

DAY 3

Unity is one of those attributes that every living creature is taught, but why is it only the trait of humans not to follow it? If asked we just crib about the numbers. At one point we are not being able to make a few join hands as they can’t adjust to the fact that people can still be united even if they don’t agree & on the other side of it until & unless a huge figure is not attained the thought of working towards a goal seems a fruitless idea. Contradictions at its best!!!

Skimming through the history of humanity, one will see that it was not the numbers but the strength of unity that did wonders. Impossible was made possible because a handful decided to raise their voice & make a difference; & though their struggle was not a piece of cake but in the end they were the one’s who triumphed.
- by Fatima Arif





In 1997- We fought back with our first resistance and formed a party, when assumed we were silenced

In 1998-We fought back by staying home, when coerced into walking away.

In 1999-We fought back by getting the corrupt convicted, when presumed we only were interested in personal battles

In 2000-We fought back by being the voice of the opposition, when one man decided to be the voice of a nation.

In 2001- We fought back by continuing to pursue justice, when the attention of the world focused on a region, made it easy to push the facts out of memory.

In 2002- We fought back by learning (# 86604), when declared we weren’t qualified to contest

In 2003-We fought back with resilience for justice, even when harassed with threats to evict us out of our homes.

In 2004- We fought back by not supporting another war, when the rest in power were kowtowing the US line.

In 2005-We fought back by persisting with the fight, when presumed that the delays will frustrate us into giving up.

In 2006-We fought back in the present by protesting when we felt the past was being suppressed yet again.

In 2007- We fought back by showing solidarity in grief-when expected to be inhumane as others had in the past.

In 2008- We fought back by fighting a fair election-when we knew rigging was prominent.

In 2009- We fought back by appealing again, when believed to have lost all spirit to continue

In 2010- We continue to fight as UNITED as ever and until RIGHT is done




In Solidarity
Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team

Copyright-Fan Club
Nothing can be reproduced without permission

Monday, December 7, 2009

Strength & Defiance-DAY 2



Day 2



In Solidarity
Fatima Bhutto FanClub Team

Copyright: Fan Club
*Nothing can be re-produced without permission from the club.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Hope & Defiance-DAY 1



Day 1



In Solidarity
Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team


*Writing Copyright: Karishma
*Nothing can be re-produced without permission from the club.



A week of Solidarity


Ghinwa Bhutto has called for a 7 day period of mourning over yesterday's judgment. The club stands by in solidarity with her, the families and the party loyalists who have fought on so bravely for the past 13 years..






Disclaimer: The above thoughts are not representative of Ghinwa or Fatima Bhutto. They are of the fan club.

Copyright: Fatima Bhutto Fan Club Team

Vigil for Mir Murtaza Bhutto & his associates


Source: DAWN publication of 6/12/2009

Saturday, December 5, 2009

مرتضیٰ بھٹو قتل کیس: تمام ملزمان بری

اپنی بہن بینظیر بھٹو کے دور اقتدار میں مرتضیٰ بھٹو کا قتل ہوا تھا
کراچی کی ایک مقامی عدالت نے میر مرتضیٰ بھٹو اور ان کے سات ساتھیوں کے قتل کے مقدمے میں نامزد تمام پولیس افسران کو بری کردیا ہے۔ یہ فیصلہ تیرہ سال بعد سنایا گیا ہے۔
مرتضیٰ بھٹو قتل کیس میں یہ مختصر فیصلہ ایڈیشنل سیشن جج شرقی آفتاب احمد نے سنیچر کے روز اپنی عدالت میں سنایا جہاں تمام نامزد ملزم پولیس افسران موجود تھے۔
مرتضیٰ بھٹو قتل کیس میں سے بری ہونے والے افسران میں سابق سربراہ انٹیلیجنس بیورو مسعود شریف، وفاقی ٹیکس محتسب شعیب سڈل، ایڈیشنل آئی جی سندھ واجد علی درانی، ای آئی جی پولیس ویلفیئر سندھ شاہد حیات، ایس ایس پی رائے طاہر، آغا جمیل، عبدالباسط، راجہ حمید، فیصل اور بشیر قائم خانی سمیت اٹھارہ ملزمان شامل ہیں۔
مرتضیٰ بھٹو قتل کیس میں تیئس ملزمان نامزد کیے گئے تھے۔ جن میں سے پاکستان کے صدر آصف علی زرداری اور شکیب قریشی دو ہزار آٹھ میں بری ہوچکے ہیں۔ کیس میں نامزد سابق وزیراعلی سندھ سید عبداللہ شاہ اور انسپکٹر ذیشان کاظمی فوت ہوچکے ہیں جبکہ ایک اور پولیس افسر حق نواز سیال نے مبینا طور پر خودکشی کر لی تھی۔
مرتضیٰ بھٹو پاکستان کے سابق وزیراعظم ذوالفقار علی بھٹو کے بڑے صاحبزادے اور سابق وزیراعظم بینظیر بھٹو کے بھائی تھے۔ انہیں سمتبر 1996 میں کراچی کلفٹن میں ان کی آبائی رہائش گاہ کے قریب ایک پولیس مقابلے میں سات ساتھیوں سمیت قتل کیا گیا تھا۔ مرتضی بھٹو کے قتل کے وقت ان کی بہن بینظیر بھٹو پاکستان کی وزیراعظم تھیں۔ بعد میں ان کی حکومت ختم کردی گئی تھی۔
مرتضیٰ بھٹو قتل کیس کراچی کی ماتحت عدالت میں تیرہ سال زیرسماعت رہا۔ اس دوران پاکستان کی کئی حکومتیں اور متعلقہ عدالت کے جج تبدیل ہوتے رہے۔
مرتضیٰ بھٹو کی بیوہ اور پیپلز پارٹی شہید بھٹو کی سربراہ غنوی بھٹو نے تاحال اپنا باقاعدہ ردعمل ظاہر نہیں کیا ہے مگر ان کے وکیل بیریسٹر عمر سیال کا کہنا ہے کہ عدالت سے تفصیلی فیصلہ ملنے کے بعد وہ اعلی عدالتوں سے رجوع کرنے کا فیصلہ کریں گے۔

"The words are written down, the deed, the date."






THE BLACK DAY 5TH DECEMBER 2009











Court acquits all accused in Mir Murtaza murder case

A local Karachi court exonerated the accused in the murder case of Mir Murtaza Bhutto and his seven associates, Geo News reported Saturday.
The accused including former chief of Intelligence Bureau Masud Sharif, Federal Tax Ombudsman Shoaib Suddle, Additional IG Sindh Wajid Ali Durrani, AIG Welfare Shahid Hayat and SSP Rai Tahir and other police officials appeared in the court of Additional Session Judge Aftab Ahmed amid heavy police deployment around the Karachi City Court premises.
Police denied media access to the court.
The court in its short order, acquitted all the nominated accused in murder case of Mir Murtaza Bhutto and his seven aides.
Two other accused nominated in the same case i.e. Asif Ali Zardari and Shikeb Qureshi were absolved in 2008; while, two other accused former Sindh Chief Minister Abdullah Shah and Inspector Zeeshan passed away during the run of the case.
On hearing the case ruling, some police personnel’s eyes turned wet.
On this occasion, all the officers, avoiding the media, made their exit from the back door.
Talking to media, Umar Siyal said the decision regarding appeal in the higher judiciary will made only after the detailed ruling of the case...

A Literary Evening with Fatima Bhutto by Dr. Fathima Nazir Imtiaz

Venue: Park Street Mews Ware house, Colombo 02, Sri lanka.

Mother and I are book lovers. With my profession and my commitments at home I have limited time to read. Few of the booker prize winning editions I purchased nearly a year back have been barely scanned. This year around I got only a few Daphne Du Maurier classics ( of the abridged cheaper versions I had read as a child).

When this opportunity came up to see Fatima Bhutto speak in the Heart of Colombo it was a rare opportunity and something not to be missed…thus we took advantage of the occasion and purchased out tickets for the talk show…arranged grandfathers to baby sit the girls and my baby son and off we went to see Fatima.

We reached Colombo 02 pretty fast since I live in Colombo 05 ( taking into consideration the state of our dilapidated roads). But Park Street per se was pretty dark and finally when I found parking space it was nearly 5 minutes to 7. with a heavy heart we sat at the back.

A lady walks in to introduce Fatima and asks us to come and fill in the first row… I was lucky to sit right in front with mother.
I was amazed with her beauty… up until then, I hadn’t seen her pictures on the web just on the papers only.. it was her sheer beauty that caught my imagination the most.

The first few minutes when the chairperson introduced her as the grand daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the niece of Benazir Bhutto my imaginations were of what a beauty she is… now I read that George Clooney too had a heavy crush on her!

She spoke with a lot of confidence and I realized that she had raw talent… her writing skills and her warmth and charisma, its not something you pick up half way down the line. Its something that had been instilled into her at a tender age and its Allah’s blessing for her.

Sri Lankan Airlines had flown her to Colombo. Organizers of the Galle Literary festival were thankful. She was housed at the Galle Face Hotel…what a co incidence, they had reserved the “dynasty suite” for her the suite her grandfather stayed in when he visited Colombo some thirty plus years ago long before she was born. The very same phrase that she very much likes to disown has been after her even right here in Colombo.

She told how surprising it was to find her grandfathers coat hanging in the hotel.. a nostalgic moment for her indeed.

She makes an effort to try and look at everyone, though we were seated at the edge of row one.. she makes an effort to turn and acknowledge us. I very much fascinated by that gesture.


Her books..

She spoke about her love for poetry.. how her father encouraged her to write. He had always been very supportive. He harnessed her talents and see how she turned out.
She talks of what prompted her to write her second book 8.50am 8th oct 2005…The devastating earth quake which left behind so much damage, didn’t have enough exposure. And the corruption that came along with all the aid flowing in is unbelievable.Fatima was pleased to have seen how much the south of Sri Lanka had improved since the Tsunami of Dec 2004. its just that all the funds flow into the pockets and bank accounts of corrupt individuals and the poor mans plight goes un noticed.
Songs of Blood and Sword… that’s a book I am waiting to read. The reason that prompted Fatima to write this she says is because she wants people to know about the history of the family and to tell all their stories.
Now what I like about this is that, we get to read about the Bhutto family from someone who is unbiased. She is not a Pro- Bhutto. She is not going to mask all the negativism about the family. If she feels we are going to learn from those mistakes she will definitely publish each of those memories however painful they may be.

Dr.Fathima Nizar Imtiaz
Colombo,Sri Lanka


Note: The FanClub Team appreciates the support of Dr Fathima, Thanks a lot.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Why I support Fatima Bhutto and her Fight for Justice...

A few months back, we were a bunch of over enthused people that started the initiative to have a site where you could easily access the work and ideology of Fatima Bhutto. The WWW seemed to be censored of her writings. So it made sense to have this one blog where one could find everything they wanted to read by Fatima Bhutto. We haven’t managed to collect everything she has written but we have made an earnest effort towards that goal. Today just three of us (two from the core group) are still part of this project and we are probably still a part of it, because we are more inspired by Fatima the writer/activist, than Fatima Bhutto the political heir.


Personally for me, Fatima Bhutto appeals to my sensibilities because of what she writes and thinks, rather than the surname she carries around! Being an Indian, I don’t get stirred with the Bhuttoism, but I do understand what it must mean to millions of Pakistani’s because our politics also has a dynasty in the offering. I’ve never seen Fatima as someone who automatically qualifies to run Pakistan, but I do envisage her as someone who qualifies to shape the future of the world we live in.


Her writing has this rare quality, of being able to transcend nationalities/gender/religion barriers and be a revelation with its honesty and enviable wit. She may write about Pakistan, a society she is very familiar with, but what she speaks about is so universal, that you could almost derive the message from it and apply it in your own world. That I think is the true mark of a good writer. To be able to rise above labels and not be boxed and compartmentalized to a specific doctrine. She writes fearlessly and candidly at times, surprising her readers into asking the difficult questions, normally which no one would want you to ask. I think what attracted me most to her ideology is her unequivocal support to peace between India and Pakistan at every given opportunity and during trying circumstances for both nations politically. Her rhetoric has never flipped flopped on this issue. Being a citizen of the 21st century, I think it is the most valuable idea she can, as an accomplished journalist, propagate for South Asia.


That is why it is important that, her voice be heard and thrive uncensored in this global world. It was this common appreciation of who she is as a person, what she stood for, what she believed in that made us go on with keeping the club active. We had decided to support Fatima, in whatever way possible and contribute in any little way in getting her messages, writings, and philosophy across to all her fans. It was with this intention we started the signature campaign to help get the due justice for Mir Murtaza Bhutto and his supporters, something Fatima has been so driven about since the past 13 years. It was just our humble attempt to show her our solidarity and to gather support for this quest for justice.

Today, on the eve of what might be a landmark judgment in the case; Fatima Bhutto Fan club team would like to express our solidarity to Fatima Bhutto, her family and the party loyalists who have kept the quest for justice alive for so many years courageously. We do hope that in the end, no matter how hard the journey has been or how difficult the path was to this day, justice shall make it all worthwhile. Like Martin Luther King Jr said ‘Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ Let us hope that with tomorrow a new chapter will be written in the history of Pakistan. To justice, to truth and courage, I hope we can toast to tomorrow…Hope you can join us.


Karishma

Ubud Festival 2009-Global Voices


The second viewer, a beautiful woman Fatima Bhutto, a journalist and writer, from Pakistan. She voiced about the life in the State that there was almost no freedom of expression and assembly as in Indonesia. Phone signals is such that no terbangus Internet network for interconnecting with one another.


Note: There might be some problems with the translation, but this is the gist of what was posted on the page, about the global voices event.If anyone has a better translation please email it to the club, Thanks.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The reading life of Fatima Bhutto

Fatima Bhutto (picture courtesy the Ubud Writers Festival)

2 December 2009
The Bhutto name is legendary in Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the country's first democratically elected prime minister. He was assassinated in 1979. His daughter Benazir was prime minister in 1988 and again in 1993. She was running for a third time in December 2007 when she also was assassinated. Benazir's brother Murtaza was murdered outside his home in 1996. His daughter Fatima was only 14 years old.

Since then, Fatima's own entrance into politics has long been speculated upon, especially after the assassination of her aunt Benazir. But 27-year-old Fatima Bhutto has denounced the family business, saying she prefers to stay active through writing, not elected office.

Fatima is a commentator and journalist and has written for the New Statesman and various Pakistani newspapers.

She's also a published a book on the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir and a collection of poetry, Whispers of the Desert.

Fatima Bhutto was a guest at the recent Ubud Writers' and Readers' festival in Bali. The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange spoke to her about her reading life, rather than her political life.Click to listen


Fatima Bhutto Book Show.mp3


Source:

http://www.abc.net.au

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Fatima Bhutto- Galle

Like we promised we have Exclusives from the Galle event with Fatima Bhutto. We would like to really thank Fathima Imtiaz, for taking the time and effort to send us the photo and notes. As you all know, there has been virtually no information about the event and so we all must appreciate the efforts of Fathima in providing us with all these details. Thank you once again Fathima…This is a picture from that event..

More to come in the next post...

EXCLUSIVE ON FATIMA BHUTTO FAN CLUB!!