Date:07/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/07/stories/2009010755472200.htm

International

Bakhtawar pours out her anguish

Islamabad: A year after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, her 18-year-old daughter has poured out her anguish in a rap song, in which she asks “was it worth dying for?”

Bakhtawar Bhutto, a student at Edinburgh University, put together a video and a song entitled ‘I would take the pain away,’ which is being broadcast on the state-owned TV channel in Pakistan. It is available on YouTube.

Bhutto’s three children — Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Aseefa — all teenagers, have spoken little about the trauma of their mother’s murder in December 2007 as she campaigned for a third term in power.

Ms. Bakhtawar says in the song that she has a few things to say to “dear mother,” but “I never got the chance.”

“Why did you have to go? Why did you have to leave? Aseefa’s [her sister] only 14 and I ain’t even ready, I barely hit 18,” says the song, written and performed by Bakhtawar. “A bullet in the back of your head. You were never afraid.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009