Fatima Bhutto
Ethnicity: Sindhi
Fatima Bhutto (Urdu: فاطمہ بھٹو
, (born 29 May 1982) is a Pakistani poet and writer. Fatima is the daughter of Murtaza Bhutto, granddaughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and niece of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
She currently writes columns for The Daily Beast, New Statesman and other publications.
She came to fame after the appearance of her first book, a collection of poems, titled Whispers of the Desert. She received notable coverage for her second book, 8:50 a.m. 8 October 2005.[2][3] Fatima is the granddaughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and niece of Benazir Bhutto, from whom she was estranged[1]. She is active in Pakistan's socio-political arena,[4] but has no desire to run for political office.[5]
Fatima belongs to a Sindhi family. She was born in Kabul, Afghanistan while her father Murtaza Bhutto was in exile during the military regime of General Zia ul Haq. Murtaza Bhutto, was son of former Pakistan's President and Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and her mother is Fauzia Fasihudin Bhutto, daughter of Afghanistan's former Foreign Affair official.[1] Her father was killed by the police in 1996 in Karachi during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto. Her parents divorced when she was young and Ghinwa Bhutto became her stepmother in 1989.[1] Years later, her mother unsuccessfully attempted to gain parental custody of Fatima.[1]
Bhutto completed her BA degree in Middle Eastern studies [6] from Barnard College of Columbia University,[2][7] after receiving her secondary education at the Karachi American School. She received a Master's degree in South Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London [8] She lives with her stepmother Ghinwa Bhutto, and her half-brother Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr.[9] They live at the famous residence 70 Clifton Road in Old Clifton, Karachi, "Karachi's oldest and plushest suburb."