Fatima Bhutto, a woman who could have easily entered mainstream politics in Pakistan due to her family associations yet chose to channel her talents into journalism. Currently a writer, columnist and an activist but has no links with any political parties. Daughter of Mir Murtaza Bhutto and twice Prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto’s niece, Fatima Bhutto was born in Afghanistan on 29th May, 1982. At the age of three her parents separated and she moved from country to country with her father. Her father eventually re-married Ghinwa Bhutto, and it is her to whom Fatima credits her upbringing. After completing her secondary education, she went abroad to Manhattan’s Barnard College and then to the SAOS at the University of London for her degrees in Middle Eastern Languages and South Asian studies respectively.
Her book “8.50 a.m. 8 October 2005” portrays the living memories and firsthand, terrible accounts of those who survived the devastating 2005 earthquake. She had already distinguished herself as a promising poet by her compilations of poem “Whispers in the Desert” at the astounding age of 15. She wrote book named “Songs of Blood and Sword” which was published in 2010. She wrote her first fictional novel “The shadow of The Crescent Moon” which was published in November 2013 and second novel “The Runaways” was published in 2019.
Fatima started off as a daily column writer in Pakistan’s famous newspaper Jang and its English twin ‘The News’. She also reported live and on the spot, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Although Fatima is ever active in the political arena, she has repeatedly stated that she has no intentions of entering mainstream politics. This is particularly due to the fact that she disapproves of the effects of family politics on the country. In fact she plans to cause awareness and be vigorous in the political scene of the country, but only through her pen and not from any sorts of political office.
