Murtaza Bhutto

It is a sad and dramatic story of love, danger, betrayal and death. She said
Murtaza chose a dangerous path for himself after his father's execution,
obsessed as he was with vengeance, anger and hatred for his father's
executors. When he first met her, she was 20 years old, daughter of an Afghan
diplomat. "He just watched for almost a year and didn't say a word," Fowzia
told the Link. On encouragement from his cousin Tariq, Murtaza finally told
Fowzia that he loved her. "He introduced himself to me as an Indian
journalist who he said was working on a project for Afghan colleges and I
believed him. I didn't have any idea about his actual background and his
activities," Fowzia said. "He was tall and very good looking." The two kept on
meeting for some time until Murtaza proposed to her. "I was ready but my
father, Syed Fasihuddin, did not like it. My mother convinced him and we
were married in September 1981. In 1982 Fatima was born."
Here is the transcript of her full interview with Faiz Rehman:
Q. Let's come back to what happened in Pakistan during your recent visit
before you tell us more about Murtaza.
Fowzia: It was my first trip to Pakistan and I can't thank the people of
Pakistan enough for their hospitality and kindness. I was in a very emotional
state of mind in Karachi. While staying with some Pakistani friends for a
couple of days, I just wanted to pick up the phone and talk to my daughter. I
had been in touch with Ghinwa and wanted to go to Pakistan to attend
Murtaza's funeral but she was not cooperating. I was in touch with Fatima off
and on over the phone and when Murtaza was killed Fatima called me. I was
at the school where I teach. I had recently got my US citizenship and wanted
to go to Pakistan right away but the next thing I heard was that they had sent
Fati to Damascus. I could not get in touch with her. They did not give any
numbers or any address.
And then she came back after Benazir's fall but Ghinwa told me not to come
to Pakistan because the time was not right. But I couldn't take it anymore and
decided to go to Pakistan. I did not inform anybody. I didn't tell Fati or
Ghinwa. I knew she (Ghinwa) would not let me see Fati so I decided to show
up at her school and asked the principal to bring Fati to the office. The staff of
the school was shocked to see me and they did not allow me to see my
daughter. They called Ghinwa. I said
Murtaza Bhutto; Copyright © www.bhutto.org
497