Benazir's niece bombarded with e-proposals

Fatima, who writes a weekly column titled 'A hundred beats' for the daily The News, signs off with her email ID.

"When I started writing this column, I made a decision to put my email address at the bottom of my articles. It isn't a phantom address or a lonely inbox that I created specifically for this column; it's my only email address," Fatima said.

"However, and there is always a 'however', I do get my fair share bizzarro mail."

Fatima, a prolific writer with two books to her credit, took time off to answer some of the bizarre mail.

"Could I have your cell number so we can discuss this further?" wrote one of her dedicated readers. "Seriously though, if you won't give me your cell number, could we at least make friendship?" wrote another.

The next FAQ was an emailed marriage proposal "Will you marry me?" to which Fatima surprisingly said "Yes".

However, her replies to more pertinent questions such as if she is related to the Bhutto family or if she would take up politics full time were more detailed.

Asked if she is related to the Bhutto family, she wrote: "Yes. But don't let that get to you. I'm an individual, not a family."

On her taking the plunge into politics, Fatima said, "I usually respond to this one by asking the same question back are you? "Ultimately, I don't believe that my surname or my background immediately qualifies me for politics. I don't believe that it's a birthright, unlike some people, ahem. I believe in contributing positively. People say 'you could have such an impact in politics!'

"Yes, but it could be a bad impact. Look at Hitler, he had an impact in politics and I can say we can all agree that he should have stayed a painter. If I can make a positive impact, then we'll see. Until then, I quite enjoy my current job."

The current job is, of course, writing articles.

Fatima also thinks Pakistan's upcoming general election will not be free and fair if indeed they are held!

In reply to a reader's query, she wrote, "I don't appreciate smoke and mirrors. The upcoming elections, if indeed they are held, will neither be free nor fair, let's not kid ourselves on this one.

"I don't think democracy is embodied simply by elections -- that's only a basic condition -- dictators have been holding elections for years. Remember Zia?

"These kinds of elections, maybe we should call them 'free and fair selections', only validate the dictatorship to its foreign donors and bosses, it does not empower the people. Spare me the farce. I'm interested in legitimate democracy, not a mockery of the demos," wrote Fatima, who was a bitter critic of her late aunt Benazir, who was assassinated last month.

Fatima, who wrote an article on Shumail and Shahzina, a lesbian couple, got bombarded by a reader for her very "Western oriented" views.

But Fatima called that piece her "favourite" and wrote: "Hijras have existed in the subcontinent for centuries; they were quite popular with the Mughals, in fact. Transexuality is not a Western concept. Why is Begum Nawazish Ali acceptable and not Shumail and Shahzina?

"Is it because the Begum wears expensive saris and sits on a popular cable channel and Shumail and Shahzina are ordinary middle class Pakistanis?

"Don't be so fickle. Also, there is someone who is in total support of all you anti-S&S bigots. You might know him, his name is George W Bush and he completely agrees with you on the issue."

Her Facebooking cousin Bilawal, who was recently made the chairman of Benazir's Pakistan People's Party, is not the only one who has fake accounts in his name.