Fatima Bhutto is an opportunist in ‘martyrs’ clothing. She has no love for Pakistan. If she did, she would concentrate her energies on healing it from within, not trashing it from the convenient haven of international media studios. My irritation with the sanctimonious mantra of Fatima bhutto came to a head when at a time of flood crisis in Pakistan, BBC World played a Hard Talk Interview where Fatima Bhutto for the enth time, sat with her smug vacuous smile slicing the country and it’s administration into shreds. How long, I wondered, can she profit from this one legged tale.
At a time when every Pakistani is joining hands and heads at a time of crisis. Ms Bhutto sits shiftily in the hot seat, scythe in hand, drawing her own last drop of blood, for another moment in the limelight. Her Tweets today, sabotaging World Bank aid to Pakistan, as Pakistan’s millions of people are desperate for food and water. point to her misguided loyalties and priorities. Her heart too full of bitterness and poison, cries not for the 3.2 million Pakistani children desperate for assistance, but intsead burns fiercely for misguided revenge.
I see Fatima Bhutto as a damaged person, and I sympathise with her. Her peaceful, coached, frighteningly calm smile. belies a raging turbulence in her mind. I feel it is unneccassary to continue to indulge her warped view of history. Especially, as it is focused on diffussing the aura and sacrifices of Benazir Bhutto. Fatima is a child of tragey, but there comes a time when she must bury her misgivings. Her story is a dead horse. Fatima Bhutto, needs to stop beating it. Her only claim to fame is her Bhutto name, and all she has ever done, is to benefit from and attack it simultaneously.
For years now, Fatima uses the name to advance herself in global media and social circles. Her eloquence, opiates and shrouds the toxicity of her content. Her Bhutto name, tender years, pleasing appearance and pathetic tale opened doors for her and the platform she recieved allowed her to become bolder and bolder. All the while her story becoming fairytale like, with new demons everytime it was retold. Snowballing the accusations became potshots, that even she is unable to defend.
People may argue, who is more deserving of the Bhutto legacy. These positions do not come easy. There are many other Bhuttos, however if truth be told, neither Fatima nor Murtaza have ever made any real political impact in Pakistan. It’s is through Benazir’s lifetime of persistence and her legacy, through which the name of the Bhutto’s shines. Fatima’s story scavenges off this this. Basking in it’s glory but biting at the very hand that feeds it.
Fatima’s internal turmoil is rooted in a black sequence of macabre events which her childhood is steeped in. It is a historical fact that her father Murtaza divorced her natural mother, after the murder of his brother Shahnawaz. Shahnawaz’s wife and Murtaza’s wife were two sisters married to two brothers. Afghans, and daughters of a small time Afghan official, the sisters were prime suspects and investigated in the death of Shahnawaz. Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto’s own words said to my father ( Salmaan Taseer) at the death of her beloved baby brother Shahnawaz, said that, “these two sisters are beautiful women with a black heart”. There was no doubt in her mind who as responsible for the murder. On Shahnawaz murder the sisters joined hands, and with questionable access to endless money with no paper trail, they fought the case in France. They had the best lawyers, stayed in five star accomadation and were later whisked away to the USA, from where they have been unheard of since. Murtaza suspicious of his wife and her deadly sister, divorced her. Fatima never spoke to the woman again . Carrying the demon of her birth mother being involved in the murder of her uncle, Fatima’s anger took root. Neither historian, nor researcher, Fatima seems to be making a deperate attempt, to make sence of her troubled past.
Albeit, we have allowed her enough poetic licence. Her story oft time borders on the ridiculous and sublime. It is time now to stand up and put a halt the indulgences. Her story has been told and retold across India, Canada, UK, USA and the Far East. It is not convincing, and she has shouted loud enough and long enough. It’s past the time to move on, and Fatima needs to think up gig number two soon to keep hot in the press. Perhaps Fatima, should give Mr Cloony a call. This tale now must be buried, it had limited currency to begin with and we’ve all heard it once too many times.
Sara Taseer Shoaib
