“Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir”, a book by Fatima Bhutto, grand daughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, will be launched at Reliance TimeOut, Cunningham Road, here on Monday.
The book tells the story of the Bhuttos, a family of rich feudal landlords who became powerbrokers in the newly created state of Pakistan; the epic tale of four generations of a family and the political violence that would destroy them. It is the history of a family and a nation riven by murder, corruption, conspiracy and division.
In September 1996, a 14-year-old Fatima Bhutto hid in a windowless dressing room shielding her baby brother while shots rang out in the streets outside the family home in Karachi. This was the evening when her father, Murtaza, was murdered along with six of his associates.
In December 2007, Benazir Bhutto, Fatima's aunt, and the woman she had publicly accused of ordering her father's murder, was assassinated in Rawalpindi. It was the latest in a long line of tragedies for one of the subcontinent's well-known political dynasties.
Father's murder
The history of this family mirrors the tumultuous events of Pakistan itself, and the quest to find the truth behind her father's murder has led Fatima to the heart of her country's volatile political establishment.
Fatima Bhutto was born in Afghanistan in 1982. She studied at Columbia University and the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She writes columns for The Daily Beast, New Statesman and other publications. Her book is about a daughter's love for her father and her search to uncover and understand the truth of his life and death.
