"We have, like siblings, more in common than we appreciate and our differences, though vast, are not impossible to overcome. They are barely visible," wrote 25-year-old Fatima.
Fatima had the first launch of Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir at Clifton Gardens at the exact spot in the port city of Karachi where her father Mir Murtaza Bhutto was killed nearly 14 years ago.
Fatima Bhutto, the niece of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, who is aggressively promoting her tell-all tome on the Bhutto dynasty, has said she has not been granted a visa to visit India for a book tour.
The actor is rumoured to be dating late Benazir Bhutto's niece.
Noted Pakistani writer ,journalist and grand daughter of former Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Fatima Murtaza Bhutto has said that the people of Pakistan and India are not enemies and there is no enmity between the common people of both the countries. She spoke with rediff.com's Arun Lakshman on the sidelines of the Kovalam literary festival, which she inaugurated on Saturday.
Their books have made us laugh, cry, fall in love and ponder about life. These are best-looking South Asian writers from across the world who have made our hearts skip a beat.
The fourth edition of the popular Kovalam Literary Festival was inaugurated on Saturday by Fatima Bhutto, the author of Songs of Blood and Sword. Bhutto, in her inaugural speech, said that both India and Pakistan have a common heritage and nothing can separate that rich legacy. The world shook when Pakistan and India were divided, said Bhutto, adding that this happened again when Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan in 1971.
Fatima Bhutto, the outspoken niece of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, was in Mumbai recently to launch her book Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir. The life and times of the Bhuttos is seen afresh in a passionately partisan but well-constructed memoir, says acclaimed-writer William Dalrymple about Fatima's book. He reviews it in context.
Fatima Bhutto, whose book on the Bhutto dynasty was released recently, says Pakistani media is "spitting blood" over the tome.
'Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, has insisted that Pakistan is not only working to track down those who may have had links to the attacks, but also promised that if India's allegations prove true, the perpetrators will be put on trial,' Fatima wrote in a column for Al-Jazeera. 'Given the government's track record, one can understand India's lack of faith in Pakistan's justice system,' she wrote in the piece titled, S Asian neighbours' linked destinies.
Karachi is not reputed as a sub-continental beauty spot. Jihadist battles, gang wars and gunfire are familiar street sights and sounds, drug trafficking in its vast slums, kidnappings and political violence between Sindhi nationalists and MQM, the muhajir party of immigrants from UP and Bihar, are the stuff of everyday life.
"I think there is a hope for justice. Justice is not only carried out in courts. Young Pakistanis, who have seen the violence in Pakistan, will stand up to the justice one day," said Bhutto, who's father Murtaza was killed on September 20, 1996, when Fatima was 14, in a gunbattle with police near his Karachi residence. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari was accused of plotting Murtaza's murder but had been acquitted of the charge.
Fatima says she has no political ambitions and is unlikely to overshadow Bilawal, her now famous cousin, anytime soon. "I am political through my writing. I have no interest in parliamentary politics for now. I'm too young. There's a lot to learn," she said.
In her latest salvo against slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, Fatima Bhutto has accused her aunt of converting the sombre resting place of the Bhuttos in Sindh province into a revolting "Disney version of Taj Mahal".
The acronym has become the butt of jokes on social media.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances