‘Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter’s Memoir’, is the title of latest book written by the vivacious and smart Afghan born Pakistani journalist & writer Fatima Bhutto. She studied at Columbia University and the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She currently writes columns for The Daily Beast, New Statesman and other publications while living in Karachi, Pakistan.
Her current book is inspired by the harsh realities of her life and it tells the story of the assassination of her father, Murtaza Bhutto – in which her uncle Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s current president, was allegedly involved. Fatima points the needle of suspicion to Zardari, who, in fact, was investigated but later let off, presumably because of lack of evidence. Fatima tells it all without flinch.
Fatima was born into a politically powerful but tragic dynasty. She is the 27-year old granddaughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was executed in 1979; niece of Shahnawaz Bhutto, who was murdered mysteriously in 1985; daughter of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, who was assassinated in 1996 and niece to Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007. She had seen it all from political power to blood shed in her life.
PPP’s co chairman and Fatima’s uncle Asif Zardari took his oath as the President of Pakistan on 20 September, 2008 which is the day of 12th death anniversary of Mir Murtaza Bhutto which Fatima finds cruel on her uncle’s part.
She also said in an interview that,
“On Zardari’s first day as Pakistan’s President, he awarded one of his co-accused (Shoaib Suddle) in the case the ‘Hilal-e-Imtiaz’. He gave him a national medal for services to the Pakistani people. And one wondered if killing Murtaza is included in this service,” Suddle was then made the head of the Federal Investigation Bureau of Pakistan.
She got a rousing welcome for her book launch all over the world. Her book is selling like hot cakes now days in India and Pakistan & tops bestseller list. According to express tribune her book is better seller than former Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah but it has yet to overtake Pervez Musharraf’s memoir ‘In the Line of Fire’.
Although she has denied her political intentions but it is believed that Fatima could be the future political challenger to Zardari’s and Benazir’s 21-year old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
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