Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto says she does not think radicalism has very much to do with religion at all and one needs to understand violence in order to survive it and talk about the pain in order to overcome it.
Bhutto has come out with a new book "The Runaways" which deals with burning questions about modern Muslim identity in a world aflame with violence.
For her, it is a book that very much has her heart and is filled with secrets, about radicalism, identity, social media and how young people today survive in a world on fire.
She says she has offered a different perspective on what contemporary radicalism means and what its genesis is.
"I don't think radicalism has very much to do with religion at all. I think it comes from pain. Its roots are deep and complex and, in the media we are not offered a very layered analysis of what it means and that's where fiction and art is important. We need to understand violence in order to survive it, we need to talk about the pain in order to overcome it," Bhutto told PTI.
She started to write "The Runaways" in 2014 and "I wrote it in a fever, it completely consumed me".
The first draft was finished very quickly and then she spent the next four years rewriting it, going deeper into the lives of the characters, deeper into all the stories.
"I wanted to write about radicalism, about how much pain you have to be in to want to go to war against the world. But I always wanted to write about loneliness, about what it is not to belong, about the internet and how it's forcing young people into building lives devoted to cults of celebrity and fame."
The chapters are titled by the name of the characters. Asked if there is any particular reason for it, she says, "I wanted readers to spend time with them closely, to know them intimately and to feel like they were with them on every step of the way. So when you're reading Anita Rose's chapter, it's just you and her. I suppose the chapters titles function in this way, to give you time alone with the characters."
She says, "I am always inspired by the humour, strength and kindness of its people. It's not an easy city but it's a brave one. Karachi and Mumbai are twin cities - our histories are irrevocably connected and you feel a lot of the same openness, the same architecture, the same vitality in both places."
Asked if she sees any hope as far as the situation in Pakistan is concerned, "Of course I see hope. I think what is ailing Pakistan today is the same thing that is ailing many places in the world - what do young people want anywhere in the world, whether in India or Pakistan or Nigeria or Brazil? They want a vision of the future that is inclusive, that is tolerant, and that is free."
"They are all wonderful places to be observers. We live such interconnected lives and are woven so deeply into the fabric of so many diverse communities and beliefs."
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