A New Episode in the Saga of the Bhutto Dynasty: Writing Is a Tyrannical Exercise…
Fatima Bhutto
Fatima Bhutto, a member of Pakistanâs most prominent political dynasty, has written a personal account of the tumultuous events of the past decade. The World Affairs Council, one of Houstonâs most prestigious citizen forums, invited her to be part of its 2010-2011ÂŽs program. Literal. Latin American Voices had the opportunity to talk to her.
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José Antonio Simón: Your book Songs of Blood and Sword is a memoir of your life with your father as well as an attempt to provide a more objective view of all the events. What moved you to write a story that nowadays can be rather controversial?
Fatima Bhutto: Several things, but largely the fact that I thought it is important to break the cycle of silence in Pakistan. And for a country that has such a phenomenal history of violence, what seems to accompany it, is the silence. Weâre not allowed to talk about it, so it keeps happening. Therefore, it was important for me to resist that, but also, it was one of the last promises I made to my father, that I would tell his story. It took me a long time to feel able to do it. I hope itâs a faithful account of the world he grew up in, and what happened.
JAS: The name Bhutto has come to be synonymous to Pakistan. The nameâs fame partially stems from the many controversial deaths. It seems like a huge price youâve paid to be close to power. How do you manage your own position, being part of such powerful family and all that entails?
FB: Power transformed this family. It destroyed this family. I suppose I reconcile that history by making sure we live differently now. In a certain sense, when it comes to dynasty, I simply donât believe in it. I think you have to choose whether youâre going to perpetuate dynasty or democracy, because they donât go together. One is exclusive and the other is inclusive. And I think most Pakistanis feel the same way too. Itâs incredibly frustrating to have a hundred and eighty people subjected to the will of one family. So I hope that being able to talk about this is something that gets that conversation started in Pakistan, at least, because weâve seen decades of dynasty and weâve not seen anything productive or progressive come out of it.
JAS: In this new episode in the saga of the Bhutto dynasty, it seems the focus is directed at your aunt Benazir Bhutto. In Songs of Blood, you hold her responsible for everything that has gone wrong in the Bhutto dynasty. Would you consider that an audacious statement?
FB: Well, itâs peculiar because there is a Benazir who people watched in Pakistan and there was a Benazir who was watched by the world, and they were two very different women. The Benazir of Pakistan left us with a political legacy that was based on personality. Ultimately, it is a dynasty or political system which is based on photographs, on ghosts. And when youâre left with a country like that, where ideology, principle or merit is sidelined for cult of personality, there are several places where one can look at, and she is the largest, because she was a tremendous figure in the country. We are still living with her legacy now. Certainly, I think itâs audacious, but perhaps in different places, maybe itâs audacious here because thatâs not the Benazir that people are familiar with. And in Pakistan itâs audacious, because if youâre part of a dynasty, people expect you to continue it. So you donât do well by being the black sheep and saying âactually, this isnât a very good ideaâ!
JAS: You departed form Pakistan just in time not to be interviewed by any local journalists. Have there been members of then present government that had tried to deny your accounts?
FB: (She laughs). Yes, well we launched the book in Karachi, and then, I went, on the book tour, and I had spoken to a few people, a political magazine, two or three actually, since the book came out. But this is a government in charge that was based on the blood of my family. Itâs based on the blood of this dynasty, and they donât take kindly to criticism, especially from someone who is actually a part of the family. I also spoke quite critically about the army. These are topics that are verboten; you are not allowed to speak of them in the country. I hope that people are able to read it on their own, and take their time with it. I heard Phillip Pullman speak recently in London, and he was asked about the controversy in his books, and he said, âWriting is a tyrannical exercise; I am in charge. And reading is democratic, I canât influence how you read.â I hope that the process of reading in Pakistan will be democratic.
JAS: Have you thought of becoming a presidential candidate in the future?
FB: Oh no! I would have to be, not only reckless, but it would be dangerous for the country to continue that cycle. Iâve always said that my position remains firm outside of power politics, and parliamentary politics. I am politicalâall what I say and write is politicalâbut I have a freedom to speak openly because I am not part of the system, and I wouldnât trade that.
JAS: Your book also gives a vivid impression of the brutal and corrupt world of Pakistani power politics. Do you foresee some changes in the near future? How can Pakistan survive such a legacy of corruption when a huge part of its population is not necessarily aware of the countryâs History?
FB: Itâs a population that has been destroyed by corruption. We missed our millennium goals to eradicate polio. Not because we donât have the know-how, we have a great medical community known the world over, but because the state couldnât guarantee the electricity needed to refrigerate the vaccines. And thatâs corruption. When you have the ability to produce and maintain and safeguard nuclear bombs, but you canât give people the most basic facilities. Corruption is something that we live with on a daily basis, and these floods are tremendous proof of how deep it runs. Transparency International says that 70% of damn maintenance money given to Pakistan by the World Bank was siphoned off. Maybe in America corruption is something intangible where, you know it happens somewhere, but you donât really know how because your roads are clean and your schools work. But for us, our schools donât work. I think Pakistan is very aware of it, they just arenât empowered enough to fight it.
JAS: Itâs interesting you should say that, since I am from Mexico and we have the same problem, and itâs something thatâs extremely hard to eradicate, how does one overcome that situation? Particularly the Pakistani people.
FB: I think transparency is very important. I donât know how it works in Mexico, but a lot of money comes into Pakistan from foreign channels and thereâs no accounting for it because the people canât say âIâm sorry, whereâs the receipt? Where is the money going?â The minute you empower people with a voice, they have the ability to come together, then they can take that power back, but theyâre kept disempowered in Pakistan, and much the same way as in Mexico, the violence and the fear it creates is such a weapon used against the imagination, because it warns you about the consequences of breaking the rules. But there are amazingly brave people in both these countries who have broken the rules and have paid for it. I think thereâs always hope that they will win one day.
Posted: April 23, 2012 at 6:33 pm
