Books: Fatima Bhutto Q & A

What were your motivations and intentions behind writing Songs of Blood and Sword?

To break the silence that surrounds the culture of political violence in Pakistan and to preserve the memory and the history of that violence in an amnesiac nation.

Why the title?

It's from a poem by the Iranian poet Khusro Golsorkhi that I love. Golsorkhi, who was a great critic of the monarchy's corruption, feudalism and violence, was executed by the Shah's regime and I came across the poem again while I was writing and it resonated.

What was the process you went through writing this book – both research-wise, and on an emotional level?

It was a six-year-long journey. I travelled all over Pakistan, across Europe and America, cold-called strangers, sat in foreign libraries and trolled through archival material. That process of research was very important to me. It was a comfort too, because it gave me some space from what I was writing about in some instances. Emotionally, it was gruelling but intensely liberating.

What would you say to people who accuse you of being unashamedly partisan in Songs of Blood and Sword?

I can't divorce myself from my family. I am writing about people I knew, lived with and loved. That said, I was critical of my grandfather, Zulfikar, where I felt he deserved it—as in the case of the state's interference in Balochistan, among other issues for example—and the same for my father and aunt. I'm nobody's keeper. To understand why my family met such violent ends I had to take a critical look at them. Where I felt they thrived, I spoke clearly in their defense. But nothing is ever black and white.

How do you feel you fit in to the Bhutto dynasty?

I was born a Bhutto. It's a last name. That's how I see it. Others clearly disagree.

In what ways would you consider yourself political?

In every way, but one – I have no interest in participating in government.

I had a little giggle over your tweet: “It's Afghanistan. And Pakistan. They're not the same, Richard." I take it you’re critical of US involvement in Pakistan?

Afpak is such a moronic term, so wildly simplistic and so indicative of how American foreign policy works. I'm not a fan of Richard Holbrooke and his meddling in my country, no.

In past interviews with and articles about you, people seem fixated on the Bhutto family, and really seem to speak of little else. Do you get sick of speaking about the family?

I think all discussion is constructive so long as we're talking on political grounds, not personal ones. That said, I talk about a lot of things—women's rights in Pakistan, election laws, the freedom of the press, the war on terror—but I understand that people are curious about the family.

You seem very interested in British politics — you’ve been tweeting about Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, you write regularly for the New Statesman, and wrote a very funny letter to David Miliband. What are your thoughts on UK-Pakistan relations?

I think the British government has played a negative subsidiary role in Pakistan's politics, with David Miliband supplementing Secretary Clinton or Holbrooke's strong-arming. However, because of our colonial history British interference in Pakistani politics has a more sinister feeling. And the longer 10 Downing supports corrupt and criminal leadership in Pakistan, from the dictator General Musharaff to Zardari, that political resentment will remain. However, I love that the anti-war movement in Britain means something and that there is a true multitude of voices and opinions being heard in the realm of British politics.

How do you feel about the intermingling of politics and religion?

I think they should be separate.

You’ve moved around a lot – where is home for you?

Pakistan, always. But I have family from my mother's side in Lebanon, so I feel very at home there too, and Syria was where I grew up so I have always felt a belonging there too.

What do you miss about Pakistan when you’re away?

Oh, everything. I miss the sound of the motorcycles with their obnoxiously loud exhausts, the smell of the sea, fresh coconut water, the people... I could go on. I'm perpetually homesick.

What do you enjoy reading?

I just finished reading Herta Muller's The Land of Green Plums, which I found very moving and terrifying, and it has left me in a panicked search for more of her work in English. Before that I was reading The Memory of Love, Aminatta Forna's latest. She's a huge inspiration, I'm a huge fan. Janine di Giovanni's The Quick and the Dead on the fall of Sarajevo was another recent read. I'd been looking for it for some time and finally found a copy in a small bookstore in London. As for papers, I always look out for Henry Porter and Simon Jenkins. And I love A A Gill.