“I don’t believe in birthright politics.” – Fatima Bhutto
Living under the pressure of a legacy can be tough, especially, when one is the granddaughter of an almost-deified martyr, the niece of an ambitious and popular assassinated political leader, and, most importantly, the daughter of a murdered hero. It can be tougher when one is from a country that worships legacies. In her latest book, Songs of Blood and Sword, Fatima Bhutto takes on the painful and difficult task of chronicling the life of her father, Mir Murtaza Bhutto.
A hardcover first edition by Viking, Penguin Books India, 2010, Songs of Blood and Sword has an endorsement from William Dalrymple on the cover – “If there is anyone born to write this story, it is Fatima Bhutto.” Just above the title, brief one-line reminders of the deaths of each of her famous family members, add to the expected sensationalism contained in the main text.
Not that it disappoints us. In recent times, the world took notice of this young, pixie-eared, freckled young girl, when she accused, more publicly than is wise for a resident of Pakistan, her famous aunt, Benazir, of murdering her brother, also Fatima’s father. However, to get to the end, one has to begin at the beginning.
The book begins with Fatima shielding her brother Zulfi from a barrage of bullets aimed at their house, around the same time that her father and his aides were being massacred. When he was coming home from one of the rallies, where he was contesting against his sister, Murtaza was shot dead. His convoy was a few feet away from his house. Much later, Fatima called her aunt, Benazir, to find out what had happened. Benazir did not take the call, but her husband, Asif Zardari, the current President of Pakistan, did. He informed the fourteen-year-old Fatima that her aunt was too hysterical to come to the phone. When Fatima persisted with her demand to speak to her aunt, Zardari calmly informed her that Murtaza had been shot.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, her grandfather, was a legend, and he was executed. Fatima never met him. In fact, Fatima was not born in Pakistan, but in exile. Her father, who spent all of his youth propagating Zulfikar’s innocence, travelled around the world, garnering support for his cause. It was too dangerous for him to go back to Pakistan.
Murtaza divorced his first wife, and managed to gain custody of his daughter. Growing up without any restrictions, the young Fatima had no idea what her legacy was. She looked forward to visits from her favourite aunt, Benazir, whom she called ‘Wadi’, and she loved her life in Damascus. When Murtaza remarried, it was with Fatima’s approval. In fact, Fatima denounces her biological mother even now, and calls her step-mother, Ghinwa, ‘Mummy’.
Benazir, being the oldest of Zulfikar’s children, took on the mantle of continuing her father’s legacy as a politician. She went on to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan, but Murtaza did not approve of her associations with certain men who were instrumental in the execution of his father. Benazir tried to justify her compromises, but he was never too convinced. This led to a strain in the relationship between the siblings.
And then, Murtaza decided to go back to Pakistan. Outspoken and forthright, he became a thorn in his sister’s side. With their younger brother Shahnawaz murdered, there were too many deaths in the family for Murtaza to forgive and forget. Their mother, Nusrat, took Murtaza’s side, and he formed his own separate political party from Larkana, their hometown. The book ends with Murtaza’s funeral. When the helicopter carrying his corpse took off to Larkana, hysterical followers hung on to the iron bars of the chopper.
The content of the book is such that one does not pay much attention to finer details during the first read. Songs of Blood and Sword reads much like a political thriller, peppered liberally with conspiracies, rivalries, hatred, corruption, and lack of morality. The protagonist is presented as an almost flawless individual, an upholder of ethics, and a super-hero. The main villain here is Benazir Bhutto, supported ably by her husband, Asif Zardari. The hero dies in the end, in an almost bizarre twist.
A racy read, Songs of Blood and Sword can almost make you forget that it is a representation of actual events. You find yourself hoping that the hero wins against all odds, and brings back peace and harmony to his country. You get carried away with his zeal and sincerity, and the eventual massacre can come as a rude shock to your expectations. You also realise that this is a true story when you see the photographs inserted in the book. Truth is stranger than fiction, and this tome testifies to that.
The author has tried to be as unbiased as possible while narrating the life and times of her father, but she is, after all, dealing with a rather emotional period of her own life. To make her work credible, she has cited an incredible amount of research. She interviewed as many people as she could, especially to investigate whether there was any truth to the rumour that her father and uncle had initiated a hijacking. They had not. She met with her father’s roommates and classmates from Harvard, various influential people from Islamic nations and, most importantly, her father’s married Greek girlfriend, whom Murtaza dumped without justification. The journey towards writing this rather difficult book was fraught with many skeletons in many closets; to come face to face with them was not easy, to say the least, for this young woman who worshipped her father.
Spanning five decades, from the 1950s, when Zulfikar was a young, idealistic man, to the 1990s, when Fatima was a teenager trying to comprehend the sudden absence of her father, Songs of Blood and Sword is a must-read for history aficionados, for political thriller enthusiasts, and for readers interested in the legacy of political legacies, especially in the Indian Sub-Continent.
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—About our writer:
Nupur Barua holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism, Content Creation and Media Management. She, rather unwisely, gave up a career as a journalist to pursue another in the world of fiction television. After attempting to understand the industry for six years, she finally gave it up to return to her first love—writing! Currently based in Mumbai, Nupur provides content and edits on a freelance basis, and occasionally designs presentations for movie and television pitches. She is also an amateur photographer with a love for travelling and animals, and is constantly looking for more material to add to her blogs.
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