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