Intelligence Squared How I Found My Voice: Fatima Bhutto
Dec 14, 2021
Fatima Bhutto, a journalist and novelist, shares her powerful journey shaped by political turmoil and familial tragedy. She delves into her family's legacy in Pakistani politics, including the grief of losing her outspoken father to assassination. Bhutto reflects on the corrosive nature of power and discusses her complicated feelings towards her aunt, Benazir Bhutto. Through personal stories, she reveals how these experiences inspired her creative writing, touching on identity, radicalization, and the promise of youth in Pakistan.
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Bhutto Name Significance
- Fatima Bhutto first realized the significance of her family name during her first trip to Pakistan at age seven.
- She saw that people recognized and reacted to her family name, understanding its meaning, good or bad.
Early Confidence and Outspokenness
- As a child, Bhutto was outspoken and confident, seeing herself as an adult.
- She resisted being placed in a lower-level Arabic class, wanting to learn at the higher native speaker level.
Father's Assassination
- Bhutto recounts the night of her father's assassination in Karachi, hearing the gunshots at age 14.
- Police initially told her it was a robbery, delaying their discovery of the truth.
