Fatima Bhutto

Fatima Bhutto فاطمہ بھٹو
Born	29 May 1982 (age 32) Kabul, Afghanistan
Residence	Karachi, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistan
Alma mater	Columbia University SOAS, University of London
Occupation	Writer, columnist, journalist
Religion	Islam
Relatives	Bhutto family

Fatima Murtaza Bhutto (Urdu: فاطمہ مُرتضیٰ بھُٹّو‎; born 29 May 1982), known as Fatima Bhutto (Urdu: فاطمہ بھٹو‎), is a Pakistani poet and writer.^[1] She is the granddaughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, niece of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and daughter of Murtaza Bhutto. She came to public note after the publication of her first book, a collection of poems,Whispers of the Desert. She received notable coverage for her second book, 8:50 a.m. 8 October 2005.^[2][3][4]

She is active in Pakistan's socio-political arena,^[5] supporting her stepmother Ghinwa Bhutto's party the Pakistan Peoples Party, but has no desire to run for political office.

Personal life[edit]

Background[edit]

Bhutto was born on 29 May 1982 to Murtaza Bhutto, the son of former Pakistani president and prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and an Afghan mother, Fauzia Fasihudin Bhutto, the daughter of Afghanistan's former foreign affairs official in Kabul,^[4] while her father was in exile during the military regime of general Zia-ul-Haq. Her parents divorced when she was three years old and her father took Bhutto with him moving from country to country and she grew up effectively stateless. Her father met Ghinwa Bhutto, a Lebanese ballet teacher in 1989 during his exiled in Syria and they married. Bhutto considers Ghinwa to be her real mother and political mentor.^[4][7]

Her father was killed by the police in 1996 in Karachi during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto, and her mother unsuccessfully attempted to gain parental custody of Bhutto.^[4] She lives with her stepmother and her half-brother Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr.^[8] in Old Clifton, Karachi.^[4]

Education[edit]

Bhutto completed her B.A. degree in Middle Eastern studies^[9] from Barnard College, Columbia University^[2][10] in Manhattan, USA, after receiving her secondary education at theKarachi American School. She received a master's degree in South Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.^[11]

Politics[edit]

Following the assassination of her aunt, Benazir Bhutto, there was speculation over her entrance into politics. In an interview, she has stated that for now she prefers to remain active through her activism and writing, rather than through elected office^[4] and that she has to "rule a political career out entirely because of the effect of dynasties on Pakistan" referring to the Bhutto family dynasty and its ties to Pakistani politics. Although Bhutto is politically active, she is not affiliated with any political party.^[12] She also expressed great sadness at her estranged aunt, Benazir Bhutto's death.^[13]

Publications[edit]

The title of Bhutto's book 8.50 a.m. 8 October 2005 marks the moment of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake; it records accounts of those affected. She has also written a book of poetry, Whispers in the Desert. A memoir, Songs of Blood and Sword, was published in April 2010. The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, her fiction debut, was published in November 2013.