When Fatima Bhutto heard that her estranged aunt had been assassinated she put
aside decades of family feuding to mourn with her relatives at the ancestral
home in Pakistan.
Three days later, when Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year-old son, Bilawal, was anointed
head of the Pakistan People’s Party, Fatima maintained a respectful silence,
despite whispers that she was the real Bhutto heir.
But now, two weeks on, she has broken that silence to launch a blistering
attack on her cousin’s appointment, accusing those around him of
perpetuating dynastic politics and trying to cash in on his mother’s blood.
In an interview with The Times – her first with the Western media
since Benazir’s death – the 25-year-old newspaper columnist also rejected
her own claim to the Bhutto legacy, calling for a new era of politics based
on platforms rather than personalities.
“That’s the problem – it’s a field that’s held hostage by so few and it’s
become in a sense the family business, like an antique shop, where it’s just
‘So and So and Sons’ and then grandsons and great grandsons. It just gets
handed down,” she said.
“The idea that it has to be a Bhutto, I think, is a dangerous one. It doesn’t
benefit Pakistan. It doesn’t benefit a party that’s supposed to be run on
democratic lines and it doesn’t benefit us as citizens if we think only
about personalities and not about platforms.” At a news conference in London
this week, Bilawal denied that the party had been handed to him “like some
piece of family furniture”.
Fatima’s remarks are unlikely to dent his support, but they reflect the
concerns of many about his party’s democratic credentials ahead of
parliamentary elections on February 18. And while she says her doors are
“always open” to Bilawal and his sisters, her criticism is almost certain to
dash hopes of a family reunion and carry the epic feud into the next
generation.
“We were there for those three days of mourning,” she said. “So it’s up to
them now.” Fatima’s father was Murtaza Bhutto, Benazir’s younger brother and
the eldest son of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was Pakistan’s first populist
Prime Minister until he was deposed in a coup in 1977 and executed.
Murtaza led a resistance movement from Afghanistan, returning to Pakistan to
challenge Benazir’s leadership of the PPP. He was killed in a police
shootout in Karachi in 1996, while she was Prime Minister. Murtaza’s
Lebanese-Syrian wife, Ghinwa, has always blamed Benazir and has run a
splinter faction of the PPP ever since. Benazir, meanwhile, derided Ghinwa
as a “belly dancer” and disputed her inheritance of the family homes in
Karachi and Larkana. “It was not a pleasant relationship we had at all,”
Fatima said.
The PPP says that Benazir left a will appointing her husband, Asif Ali
Zardari, as party chief and that he stepped down in favour of Bilawal, a
history student at Oxford. Bilawal added “Bhutto” to his surname and said
his father would run the party until he completed his studies. Mumtaz
Bhutto, leader of the 700,000-strong Bhutto tribe, has disputed that, saying
Bilawal’s name change did not make him a “real Bhutto”.
Fatima said that neither she nor her 17-year-old brother were the rightful
heirs – even though they are the offspring of the male line. The issue, she
said, was whether Bilawal was a suitable choice, given that by law he must
wait another 6 years to run for Parliament – and 16 years to stand for Prime
Minister. “Ultimately the party workers believe that nobody can head the
party but a Bhutto, but I don’t think the workers believe that on whomever
you put the Bhutto name can lead,” she said.
“They seem to be a party in a hurry and they seem to be desperate to cash in
on her blood. There was a certain coterie around her that benefited richly
from her Government and they plan, it seems, to benefit richly from her
death as well.”
Fatima, like Mr Zardari, rejected the Government’s claim that Islamist
militants were behind Benazir’s assassination, but she also questioned Mr
Zardari’s motives. “I think at some point the will should be made public, if
indeed there was one,” she said.
The parallels between Fatima and her aunt are striking: Benazir studied at
Harvard and Oxford before returning to Pakistan and taking over the PPP aged
24. Fatima returned to Pakistan two years ago after completing a BA in
Middle Eastern studies at Columbia University and an MA in South Asian
government and politics at SOAS in London.
Fatima has also published a book of poetry aged 15 and another on the 2005
earthquake in Kashmir.
So far, she has resisted the urge to run for Parliament, confining herself to
campaigning for her mother and writing her weekly columns. She admits,
though, that politics is in her blood. “If there was an opportunity for new
faces to come up and new voices to be heard and if I could be of service in
some way, I wouldn’t say no,” she said. “But I’m not interested in being a
symbol for anyone.”
Voice of dissent
“[Benazir] Bhutto’s political posturing is sheer pantomime . . . By supporting
Ms Bhutto, who talks of democracy while asking to be brought to power by a
military dictator, the only thing that will be accomplished is the death of
the nascent secular democratic movement in my country
Opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times November 14, 2007
I never agreed with her politics. I never did. I never agreed with those she
kept around her, the political opportunists, hangers-on, them. They repulsed
me. I never agreed with her version of events. Never. But in death perhaps,
there is a moment to call for calm. To say enough. We have had enough. We
cannot, and will not, take any more madness
Column in The News, Pakistan December 30, 2007
I don,t think so they are best for Sindhi and Pakistani people.Pakitan is no properti of Bilawal and Fatima .Its awami properti
MIR BAAZEED KHAN, Sindh, Pakistan
Fatima Bhutto is thousands times better than Bilawal Zardari as PPP chief.
She is well known and well heard person.
I am sure that once the emotions subside of Beazir's death, PPP workers will realise and will come to Fatima Bhutto....
Good luck Fatima
Syed Habib Orakzai , London
Syed Habib Orakzai, London, London, England
Her eloquence is what Pakistan desperately needs. Just looking at some of the language banded about by Pakistani politicians highlights their mental level, and Miss Fatima far exceeds this.
Hassan Azam, Banbury , Oxfordshire, England
We the founder workers of PPP salute to your very right decision that Bhuttos may not need to lead the party but guide the party with their charisma and intellect for the betterment of the masses in Pakistan. They have their own life to enjoy and this is their right any how. In case of Fatima , she might be ready to marry and PPP particularly and Pakistan generally can not afford any mr. percentage. But Bhutto will remain a simble of freedom and hope for the poor oppressed people and a light for lower middle class educated youth in Pakistan for years to come. Please, Fatima keep up with your good work and do not forget the poor masses. And when ever you ahve time do your best for the masses. All the best for your private life. KHWAJA AFTAB ALI< Florida, U.S.A.
Khwaja Aftab Ali, Orlando, Florida
Fatima we rather have you than anything with Zardari name in it. You seem very intelligent we wish you best.
Rizwan, San Francisco/Sacramento, usa
dear Fatima, be very careful and go for it. stand up for a change and rest will be supporting you. Young people of Pakistan will support you.
Good Luck
Khurram, London,
Pakistan is definitely ready for a change, especially the youth and the middle class. . We need to elect politicians who can rebuild the institutions and give a sense of hope and vision to its people.yae fatima should join the party.
dr.mohsin virk ,russia
mohsin fareed, mordovia saransk, Russia
we need you
fatimah, toronto, canada
I think Fatima should join other politicians such as Imran Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan and mobilize the citizens of Pakistan, especially the youth. Pakistan is definitely ready for a change, especially the youth and the middle class. This is why Musharraf is so unpopular. We need to elect politicians who can rebuild the institutions and give a sense of hope and vision to its people.
Hamid, New York, USA
We don’t want another Bhutto.
Faisal Sher, Hafizabad, Pakistan
Wow! She's such a pretty young woman! She has atleast one Indian behind her!
Want her to be the Queen of Pakistan!
Allah save the Queen!!
Anil, Dallas, USA
Fatima seems to have a better understanding, than Benazir did. Perhaps this is because of the lack of "hangers on". They do say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Fatima, you are a breath of fresh air as compared to the scummy Zardari's of this world.
akram, London,
If the people of Pakistan allow the Bhutto's to rule their country, they will of course do just that. It's the Ghandi thing in India all over again.
If Pakistan is to become a democracy and take responsibilty for all that entails, they must send the Bhutto's packing and look elswhere for leadership.
Leadership must be respected by all as the most important role in the nation, and as such must be earned, not given away to a teenager as a right of passage.
Mary Tovey, Melbourne, Australia
Fatima has always upheld this view in her columns which are quite popular with a vast section of the readers, particulary young who see in her a person with a caring mind and soul. The fact that she is a poetess and has written extensively on the plight of downtrodden in Pakistan and elsewhere in the region, strengthen he popular appeal. I am sure if there is any moment when people look up to the Bhuttos to resurrect PPPP is the coming years on the lines Sonia Gandhi was called upon to do in India, Fatima Bhutto will be their hands-down choice. She is a true democrat and I pray that either she herself decides early or circumstances throw in in the Pakistani politics which badly needs a young leader like her.
Hamid Raza Wattoo, London, UK
Fatima comes across as beautiful, young, intelligent and mature. We need more leaders like her to reconcile the country, and change the radicalist and negative image of Pakistan.
Navid, doha, Qatar
good on that young woman - she is taliking a great deal of sense. what are the policies that PPP and PML N offering other than to get rid of Musharaff. that is no reason for electing either of these parties - where is the beef.
shahid, london, UK
Fatima Bhutto is a very intelligent woman and she expresses herself very well. While her ideas are very noble, there is the problem that in many societies family associations go a long way in politics. John F Kennedy, one of the most loved US presidents made his own brother Robert Attorney General, and the surviving Kennedy brother, Ted, has been actively promoting his son Patrick in politics. Similarly you have the Bush and now the new Clinton dynasties in a sense, and these, in a country that is arguably the most advanced democracy in the world. Sadly, in Pakistan, the Bhuttos may be forced to stay at the PPP's leadership unless they recuse themselves somehow.
All of this, though, only shows, though, that Fatima Bhutto is, indeed, someone whose character is true to what she writes about. May her tribe increase! The world needs all the principled public figures that it can get.
Mehul Kamdar, Des Plaines, IL, USA
I have to so that this young woman is absolutely correct, if Pakistan is to develop then opportunities must be available to widen the scope of those people who are marginalised.
Great call!
George Laird, Glasgow, uk
The problem with Western media and politicians in general is that they think their systems of government are the best without realising that politics,just like religion,are ideologies deeply rooted in the socio-cultural and even economic aspects of the people in question.This is why the USA got it so wrong in both Vietnam and Iraq.The people of Pakistan are the once who will vote the Bhuttos into office if they choose to follow the dynastic path.The Bhuttos can create a family based political party but at the end of the day,the decision as to whether the electorate wants a dynasty or not,lies with the people,the voters.The meaning of democracy is very different for different people and this is why,even in the western world,there are different forms of democracy.Tony Blair was not voted into office by the people,neither was Gordon Brown and yet they are regarded as democratic leaders.In Africa,the head of a state is equivalent to a head of the house:politics based on culture and history
Levi Zindi, LONDON, UK
A, from Bayonne, you are right, Pakistan is not in the MIddle East. When I referenced the Middle East I was referring to where George is trying establish his 'model' for democracy (Irag).
Dave, Upper Canada,
That approaches for one country will not approach for another one. It is necessary to consider mentality of people and history of the country. Democracy for Pakistan all the same that communism for the developed country. I think to solve the Pakistan question it is necessary very accurately that to bring the peace in this region and to base decisions on opinions of Pakistan people.
Alexander, Tula, Russia
Thank goodness at least one person understands that democracy means electing the most suitable candidate, not a family brand. Enemies of democracy must be thrilled to have a 19-year-old opponent and a family that refused a definitive post-mortem exam to establish the caus eof Ms Bhutto's death. In such conditions, democracy is a far way off. However, Fatima's insight is invaluable. Maybe now a leader can emerge and Pakistannis with have the grown-up sense to elect the best candidate, not some father or mother figure..
Emma H., Ottawa,
Wow, that's a pretty tight close-up of her face: someone other than me finds her rather attractive also.
Richard Smurfit, London, UK
Um yeah Dave from Upper Canada.. Pakistan is not in the middle east. Next time you open your mouth...know what your talking about.
A, Bayonne,
"Party leaderships are decided by bloodlines"; whatever would Jeb or Hilary say about that?
David Masu, Zürich,
Thank goodness a Bhutto shares the world's opinion of the PPP. The PPP should not forget any democratic leader is only respected if truly elected into office and not sitting on the mantle through hereditary links. By the way are all the other members of the PPP not worthy of leading the Parkistani people forward...
Islam Bello London UK
Femi, London, UK
Fatima is right in what she has said, as Pakistan's future doesn't lies in the hands of a FAMILY, which ever it is.
Benazir and Asif Zardar aka 10% has robbed the country in a way no one would have imagined, even death favored benazir and now she is being treated like a legend.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a Great politician and a Leader.....
God HELP Pakistan .... !!!!!
Mutahir, London, UK
Is this what the USA and the West expects democracy to look like in the Middle East? It makes any notion of fair election in this country seem even more absurd; no wonder Musharraf is in no rush to hand the reins over to a system where party leaderships are decided by bloodlines.
Dave, Upper Canada,
Fatima seems to be a true democrat. I think like Nicolas Cage, she should change her surname so that she can chart her own course ..
Kara Swart, London, UK
I agree with Fatima Bhutto. Democratic Parties are not assets to be distributed amongsts the heirs. Also, instead of grieving Zardari took advantage of the situation and named his son and himself chairpersons of the party. I am astonished at his sneakiness. It seemed like he was prepared and did not seemed shocked at the assassination of his wife. Mr. ten percent now wants to grab 100 percent. He should be kicked out back in exile otherwise he will gobble up the entire nation!!
fauzia, colleyville, Tx