Humor Chic Exclusive Interview - Fatima Bhutto, the courage of speech. aleXsandro Palombo meets Fatima, the rebel soul of the Bhutto dynasty.

Karachi - A writer and poet of rare sensitivity, she believes in democracy, innovation and receptiveness to new ideas. She is always in the front line, ready to fight in defense of human rights and women and for her ideals when they are in danger, speaking aloud in a country where for this you can pay with your life. She does not believe in dynastic politics. It is not politics but a danger to democracy, she claims, intelligent, sensitive and courageous as only certain imaginary heroines can be. Her clear gaze, poetic and ethereal, would be perfect for a Renaissance portrait by Michelangelo. This is Fatima Bhutto, a life in mourning, surrounded by intrigues and power. Her father Murtaza Bhutto, the son of Pakistan's former President and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and an elected member of parliament, was killed by the police in 1996 in Karachi during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto, when he was contending for the political legacy of the People's Party founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. No one has ever been brought to justice for the mysterious assassination of her father, and Fatima has always struggled to shed light on this, accusing as the minds behind the killing her aunt Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari, the latter in her opinion a corrupt and unscrupulous criminal. In 2007 Benhazir Bhutto, then prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated. At her death many pointed to Fatima Bhutto as her natural successor to lead the Pakistan People's Party, but the son of Benhazir and Asif Zardari, her cousin Bilawal, was elected the new Party Secretary, however he continued his studies at Oxford. Today her uncle Asif Zardari is President of Pakistan and Fatima continues her brave battle, accusing him of involvement in her father’s death and as the leader of a corrupt and criminal government that is leading the country astray. Millions of Pakistanis live in poverty, without hospitals or schools for children, and with no democratic judicial system but the sharia, the terrible Islamic law which Zardari's government recently introduced in the courts, thus giving more power to the Taliban who still control many tribal areas of the country. The move has alarmed the West, especially the Americans, who have passed millions of dollars to the government of Pakistan for the fight against the Taliban. Fatima has always strongly condemned Obama’s financial support for the government of Zardari because she points out this does nothing but foster corruption and strengthen the hegemony of the Pakistan People’s Party to exclude other movements. Millions of dollars still flow into the government’s coffers but they ultimately vanish in a country of 180,000,000 people, with a geopolitical position that makes it a key partner in the war on terrorism and an important base for the balance of the Middle East. Some tribal areas suffer from incessant American bombing of Taliban compounds. Over two million refugees have fled from Swat, Buner and Dir. “It’s in our own interest, not just America’s, to fight terrorism, but if it continues to bomb Pakistani territory, people will think that this is America's war against us, not our war on terrorism,” Fatima emphasized. She has chosen to serve her beloved country through writing, social activism and poetry, steering clear of parliamentary politics. She warns against the blood succession which has made the Pakistan People's Party a family business. The Bhuttos, like the Nehru-Gandhi family in India or the Kennedys in the United States, are one of the world’s great political dynasties.







AleXsandro Palombo: Dear Fatima, what’s your relationship with the Western culture?
Fatima Bhutto: Is there really such a thing as Western culture? I'm thinking of what Gandhi said about Western civilization...
AXP: Are you a dreamer, an idealist or a rebel?
FB: I think a rebel is usually all three.
AXP: Karachi has 16 million inhabitants and a great history. What’s your relationship with your city? Which city would you exchange yours for?
FB: It's a love affair, but one that I often need to make my space and independence from...I wouldn't exchange Karachi for anywhere, but I love cities by the sea - Beirut and Havana are two favorites. I love to travel.
AXP: What’s the future for Pakistan? Do you think there might be a future of true democracy?
FB: Yes of course - we are only 62 years old as a country. We have a long journey ahead of us but we will get there eventually. However, the longer the West supports corrupt and criminal governments like the ones we have had for the last twenty years…
AXP: What’s the role of women in Pakistan? How are women viewed?
FB: Like everywhere else in the world, it's complicated. We have very violent and oppressive laws against women called the Hudood Ordinance that say a woman can be stoned to death for committing adultery or engaging in premarital sex but on the other hand we have a very strong female population that is actively engaged in their communities, politics and the arts.
AXP: China and India are “running countries” and the West of the world is undergoing a deep economic crisis. Despite all this, the West is not yet ripe for a more humble approach to Oriental culture. Why?
FB: They're reluctant to let go of their hegemony. Empires ultimately become oppressive and narrow minded when threatened with the possibility of decline.
AXP: What do you think about Ahmadinejad’s policy and the role of women in Iran?
FB: I went to Iran last three years ago and found it fascinating, with powerful, strong and brave women in all spheres of life - writers, artists, photographers, journalists. As a woman, I felt safe and comfortable - more so than in my country - but many things have changed since I was last in Tehran so I'm not sure I can answer the question. Regarding women in Iran, I will say I've never met braver women anywhere else.
AXP: “West is democracy”, so why do the media consistently implement censorship against those who seek to bring to light many truths?
FB: Oh, I'm not sure the West is democracy at all....
AXP: What’s your relationship with aesthetics? What do you tell to those who think that beauty might change the world?
FB: I think we might need a lot more than just aesthetics.
AXP: Do you like art? Which kind?
FB: I do, I'm discovering Pakistani women artists recently who I find very powerful and subversive in their work. Sana Arjumand is a very young, very transgressive artist. Naiza Khan's sketches are also very strong and moving.
AXP: Why doesn’t anybody want to notice ugly things today?
FB: I think plenty of ugliness goes noticed! There's no end to the coverage of violence, terror, and Pakistan's President Zardari.
AXP: You are a great poetess, a sensitive author and writer. Do you think people prefer to seek depth or frivolity?
FB: I hope depth, but every once in a while frivolity is a nice escape.
AXP: What do you think about the Burqa and Niqab? Sarkozy wants to pass a law banning Muslim women from wearing the Burqa and Niqab in France. What do you think about it?
FB: I think they limit human contact and expression but that said I think that the burqa and the veil have become political symbols - not just religious ones. It has become a way of expressing dissatisfaction, a way of expressing dissent and political rebellion. I believe women have a right to wear them if they choose, just like I have the right not to wear them. Sarkozy's decision to ban them is the wrong choice - they will only separate women who wear the burqa or the veil even further. It is a decision that will ultimately remove them from society and from communities where women are free to dress differently and will further isolate these women. It's also a bad choice to ban them because it shows a very frightened intolerance.
AXP: Many First Ladies are obsessive about their look. What do you think about Carla Bruni?
FB: I like her music...
AXP: What do you think about Michelle Obama ?
FB: I don't particularly know much about Michelle Obama. I think perhaps we need more time to see what she chooses to focus on while in the White House
AXP: What do you think about Queen Rania of Jordan?
FB: She is a good voice for Middle Eastern Women, though I would like her to take stronger stands against the war on terror and the injustices carried out against the Palestinian people.
AXP: Do you trust Barack Obama?
FB: I don't trust any politicians!
AXP: What do you think about Italy and its anti- immigration policy?
FB: I love Italy, I have many very close and inspiring friends who are Italian women. But Berlusconi I find very frightening, don't you?
AXP: Your Aunt Benazir was murdered. You don’t appreciate her policies. What if Pakistan were to be lead by you in future? Do you think that might happen? Can we hope for a future Fatima Bhutto Prime Minister?
FB: No, my future is with words. I love my country, I just choose to serve it in a different way from parliamentary politics.

Biographical note:
Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul in 1982, Her father Murtaza Bhutto, son of Pakistan's former President and Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and an elected member of parliament, was killed by the police in 1996 in Karachi during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto.
Fatima graduated from Columbia University in 2004, majoring in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, and from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 2005 with a Masters in South Asian Government and Politics.
She is the author of two books: Whispers of the Desert, a volume of poetry, which was published in 1997 by Oxford University Press Pakistan when Fatima was 15 years old. 8.50 a.m. 8 October 2005, a collection of first-hand accounts from survivors of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, was published by OUP in 2006. Her third book, Songs of Blood and Sword, will be published worldwide in 2010.
Fatima wrote a weekly column for Jang - Pakistan's largest Urdu newspaper and its English sister publication The News – for two years. She covered the Israeli invasion and war with Lebanon from Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and also reported from Iran in January 2007 and Cuba in April 2008.
Fatima’s work has appeared in the New Statesman, Daily Beast, Guardian, and The Caravan Magazine.
Her third book, Songs of Blood and Sword, will be published in Italian and French in 2011 and in the UK by Jonathan Cape in April 2010 and by Nation Books in the US in the fall of 2010