28/11/2013 Meet the Author


28/11/2013

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 28/11/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

strong. And on it goes. Bob Stanley, thank you very much. Now it's time

:00:00.:00:00.

for this week's Meet the Author, with Nick Higham. Fatima Bhutto

:00:00.:00:09.

comes from one of Pakistan's political dynasty is, her

:00:10.:00:11.

grandfather was the Prime Minister and so was her auntie. Both died

:00:12.:00:17.

violently. Her father, also a politician was murdered, as well and

:00:18.:00:20.

one of her uncles was poisoned. She is a generalist and an author, and a

:00:21.:00:28.

journalist and has now turned her hand to fiction. Her first novel,

:00:29.:00:33.

called The Shadow Of The Crescent Moon, is not set among the political

:00:34.:00:37.

Western educated class she comes from but one of Pakistan's most

:00:38.:00:45.

remote and dangerous areas. Fatima Bhutto, this is set in the tribal

:00:46.:00:52.

areas of Pakistan, right on the north`west Frontier with

:00:53.:00:57.

Afghanistan. But those of us who won't be mayor, what place is this?

:00:58.:01:03.

This place has guarded its freedom very strongly. It's always

:01:04.:01:08.

maintained a degree of separation, of autonomy. And, since of course

:01:09.:01:14.

the war on terror, it is lost a great deal of that. Pakistani troops

:01:15.:01:20.

have entered the area. And we see this now in the context of the drone

:01:21.:01:25.

was, north and south, the epicentre of where these unmanned drone

:01:26.:01:31.

strikes happened on it sometimes daily basis. Why did such novel

:01:32.:01:39.

here? The northernmost part of Pakistan is deeply misunderstood. ``

:01:40.:01:48.

why did you set it here? We don't look at how people live there any

:01:49.:01:51.

more and how people suffer the violence. And what young people must

:01:52.:01:59.

do in order to survive. There are three brothers. One of whom has

:02:00.:02:05.

escaped to America and come back. One was caught up in the separatist

:02:06.:02:11.

movement. One is a doctor. They have all suffered in one way or another.

:02:12.:02:16.

By all compromised and been badly affected by the violence. This also

:02:17.:02:22.

two female characters and I get the impression they rather took over the

:02:23.:02:27.

book. The women are the heartbeat of the novel. They captured somewhere

:02:28.:02:35.

along the way. It started as a story about three brothers and these

:02:36.:02:41.

women, like women doing Pakistan, took over, refused to be kept in the

:02:42.:02:45.

background. It's really them who give us strong sense of suffering

:02:46.:02:51.

that millions of young women face in Pakistan. And even in South Asia.

:02:52.:02:56.

But more importantly, the struggle that women face and it's a struggle

:02:57.:03:02.

which is inclusive, which does not separate itself according to caste

:03:03.:03:09.

and religion. Or ethnicity. It's a compassionate struggle, not one of

:03:10.:03:15.

violence. It doesn't seek to raise other women up alongside each other.

:03:16.:03:19.

And they pay very dearly for this. They are attacked by the status quo.

:03:20.:03:28.

And bullied by men. We see this in real life, not just on the novel,

:03:29.:03:33.

the way in which Malala Yousafzai, a brave young Pakistani has been

:03:34.:03:38.

treated by her country, very unfairly. How has she been treated,

:03:39.:03:43.

apart from the fact she was shot and left for dead? A segment of the

:03:44.:03:48.

country has heaped a lot of that she'll and hostility on her after

:03:49.:03:55.

the incident. It's not to say that it is Pakistan's reaction because

:03:56.:04:03.

millions of people see her as a brave woman fighting to raise her

:04:04.:04:06.

voice but the segment you see on Twitter and Facebook has been very

:04:07.:04:13.

hostile. It's not permissible, it seems, for those outside a central

:04:14.:04:19.

power to speak. And women are always kept outside that central power,

:04:20.:04:23.

pushed into the periphery, but they fight back. It does seem Pakistan is

:04:24.:04:30.

moving towards the status quo of a failed state. I don't think you can

:04:31.:04:37.

resign such a young country towards hopelessness just yet. I think

:04:38.:04:40.

Pakistan is a country of deep longing, and Pakistan's journey is

:04:41.:04:46.

one of trying to fulfil that longing. By Pakistan, I don't mean

:04:47.:04:53.

the corrupt and bankrupt state and inefficient to a violent and

:04:54.:04:56.

dangerous degree, but the people's longing for justice, for the promise

:04:57.:05:01.

of what this place was supposed to be, supposed to protect people,

:05:02.:05:06.

include people. And was opposed to create a safe place of belonging. It

:05:07.:05:10.

still exists in the people 's hearts, and it is the reason why you

:05:11.:05:15.

see so many young people stay, actually. While many try to go out.

:05:16.:05:23.

Many struggle and battle in order to somehow fulfil that longing. You

:05:24.:05:31.

were born there and studied in America and in Britain. And you now

:05:32.:05:34.

live in Karachi. Why are you still there? Well, I haven't yet found a

:05:35.:05:43.

good enough reason to go. It's dangerous, turbulent, I don't think

:05:44.:05:50.

that's a good reason. Like all Pakistanis, I have that longing,

:05:51.:05:55.

too. I wonder if one reason use they is a sense of family duty because of

:05:56.:06:00.

grandfather was Prime Minister. He was executed. Your father was a

:06:01.:06:05.

politician. He was assassinated. Your uncle was poisoned, and your

:06:06.:06:11.

aunt was assassinated. There must be an assumption that you will follow

:06:12.:06:17.

them in due course and go into politics. That might be an

:06:18.:06:21.

assumption in peoples minds, it's never been an option or an interest

:06:22.:06:27.

in mine. The only legacy of my family that I feel responsible to is

:06:28.:06:32.

the one I live with and try to uphold every day which is to be

:06:33.:06:37.

kind, compassionate, to defend those who are voiceless. I don't have to

:06:38.:06:44.

be in politics to do that at all. You have written nonfiction, about

:06:45.:06:50.

your father's death. You have written journalism and poetry. This

:06:51.:06:53.

is your first novel. Why switch to fiction now? Will you stick to it? I

:06:54.:06:59.

would love to, it's the most compassionate form because fiction

:07:00.:07:04.

doesn't allow you to have prejudices. It doesn't forgive you.

:07:05.:07:10.

It demands that you observe, actually. That you bear witness. In

:07:11.:07:18.

doing that, that you don't judge. I don't know why now I'm not sure how

:07:19.:07:25.

it's crept up on me, but I found it a liberating experience and I would

:07:26.:07:30.

very much like to continue. Fatima Bhutto, thank you very much indeed.

:07:31.:07:32.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS