:00:00. > :00:00.strong. And on it goes. Bob Stanley, thank you very much. Now it's time
:00:00. > :00:09.for this week's Meet the Author, with Nick Higham. Fatima Bhutto
:00:10. > :00:11.comes from one of Pakistan's political dynasty is, her
:00:12. > :00:17.grandfather was the Prime Minister and so was her auntie. Both died
:00:18. > :00:20.violently. Her father, also a politician was murdered, as well and
:00:21. > :00:28.one of her uncles was poisoned. She is a generalist and an author, and a
:00:29. > :00:33.journalist and has now turned her hand to fiction. Her first novel,
:00:34. > :00:37.called The Shadow Of The Crescent Moon, is not set among the political
:00:38. > :00:45.Western educated class she comes from but one of Pakistan's most
:00:46. > :00:52.remote and dangerous areas. Fatima Bhutto, this is set in the tribal
:00:53. > :00:57.areas of Pakistan, right on the north`west Frontier with
:00:58. > :01:03.Afghanistan. But those of us who won't be mayor, what place is this?
:01:04. > :01:08.This place has guarded its freedom very strongly. It's always
:01:09. > :01:14.maintained a degree of separation, of autonomy. And, since of course
:01:15. > :01:20.the war on terror, it is lost a great deal of that. Pakistani troops
:01:21. > :01:25.have entered the area. And we see this now in the context of the drone
:01:26. > :01:31.was, north and south, the epicentre of where these unmanned drone
:01:32. > :01:39.strikes happened on it sometimes daily basis. Why did such novel
:01:40. > :01:48.here? The northernmost part of Pakistan is deeply misunderstood. ``
:01:49. > :01:51.why did you set it here? We don't look at how people live there any
:01:52. > :01:59.more and how people suffer the violence. And what young people must
:02:00. > :02:05.do in order to survive. There are three brothers. One of whom has
:02:06. > :02:11.escaped to America and come back. One was caught up in the separatist
:02:12. > :02:16.movement. One is a doctor. They have all suffered in one way or another.
:02:17. > :02:22.By all compromised and been badly affected by the violence. This also
:02:23. > :02:27.two female characters and I get the impression they rather took over the
:02:28. > :02:35.book. The women are the heartbeat of the novel. They captured somewhere
:02:36. > :02:41.along the way. It started as a story about three brothers and these
:02:42. > :02:45.women, like women doing Pakistan, took over, refused to be kept in the
:02:46. > :02:51.background. It's really them who give us strong sense of suffering
:02:52. > :02:56.that millions of young women face in Pakistan. And even in South Asia.
:02:57. > :03:02.But more importantly, the struggle that women face and it's a struggle
:03:03. > :03:09.which is inclusive, which does not separate itself according to caste
:03:10. > :03:15.and religion. Or ethnicity. It's a compassionate struggle, not one of
:03:16. > :03:19.violence. It doesn't seek to raise other women up alongside each other.
:03:20. > :03:28.And they pay very dearly for this. They are attacked by the status quo.
:03:29. > :03:33.And bullied by men. We see this in real life, not just on the novel,
:03:34. > :03:38.the way in which Malala Yousafzai, a brave young Pakistani has been
:03:39. > :03:43.treated by her country, very unfairly. How has she been treated,
:03:44. > :03:48.apart from the fact she was shot and left for dead? A segment of the
:03:49. > :03:55.country has heaped a lot of that she'll and hostility on her after
:03:56. > :04:03.the incident. It's not to say that it is Pakistan's reaction because
:04:04. > :04:06.millions of people see her as a brave woman fighting to raise her
:04:07. > :04:13.voice but the segment you see on Twitter and Facebook has been very
:04:14. > :04:19.hostile. It's not permissible, it seems, for those outside a central
:04:20. > :04:23.power to speak. And women are always kept outside that central power,
:04:24. > :04:30.pushed into the periphery, but they fight back. It does seem Pakistan is
:04:31. > :04:37.moving towards the status quo of a failed state. I don't think you can
:04:38. > :04:40.resign such a young country towards hopelessness just yet. I think
:04:41. > :04:46.Pakistan is a country of deep longing, and Pakistan's journey is
:04:47. > :04:53.one of trying to fulfil that longing. By Pakistan, I don't mean
:04:54. > :04:56.the corrupt and bankrupt state and inefficient to a violent and
:04:57. > :05:01.dangerous degree, but the people's longing for justice, for the promise
:05:02. > :05:06.of what this place was supposed to be, supposed to protect people,
:05:07. > :05:10.include people. And was opposed to create a safe place of belonging. It
:05:11. > :05:15.still exists in the people 's hearts, and it is the reason why you
:05:16. > :05:23.see so many young people stay, actually. While many try to go out.
:05:24. > :05:31.Many struggle and battle in order to somehow fulfil that longing. You
:05:32. > :05:34.were born there and studied in America and in Britain. And you now
:05:35. > :05:43.live in Karachi. Why are you still there? Well, I haven't yet found a
:05:44. > :05:50.good enough reason to go. It's dangerous, turbulent, I don't think
:05:51. > :05:55.that's a good reason. Like all Pakistanis, I have that longing,
:05:56. > :06:00.too. I wonder if one reason use they is a sense of family duty because of
:06:01. > :06:05.grandfather was Prime Minister. He was executed. Your father was a
:06:06. > :06:11.politician. He was assassinated. Your uncle was poisoned, and your
:06:12. > :06:17.aunt was assassinated. There must be an assumption that you will follow
:06:18. > :06:21.them in due course and go into politics. That might be an
:06:22. > :06:27.assumption in peoples minds, it's never been an option or an interest
:06:28. > :06:32.in mine. The only legacy of my family that I feel responsible to is
:06:33. > :06:37.the one I live with and try to uphold every day which is to be
:06:38. > :06:44.kind, compassionate, to defend those who are voiceless. I don't have to
:06:45. > :06:50.be in politics to do that at all. You have written nonfiction, about
:06:51. > :06:53.your father's death. You have written journalism and poetry. This
:06:54. > :06:59.is your first novel. Why switch to fiction now? Will you stick to it? I
:07:00. > :07:04.would love to, it's the most compassionate form because fiction
:07:05. > :07:10.doesn't allow you to have prejudices. It doesn't forgive you.
:07:11. > :07:18.It demands that you observe, actually. That you bear witness. In
:07:19. > :07:25.doing that, that you don't judge. I don't know why now I'm not sure how
:07:26. > :07:30.it's crept up on me, but I found it a liberating experience and I would
:07:31. > :07:32.very much like to continue. Fatima Bhutto, thank you very much indeed.