Former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's granddaughter Fatima Bhutto has stirred a row on social media after she visited a Hindu temple in Karachi after her marriage
Activist and author Fatima Bhutto's visit to the temple after her nikah left social media divided with some users praising the gesture and others wondering what she was doing there
Fatima and her husband Graham Gibran sparked outrage on social media when they paid a visit to Karachi's old Mahadev Temple on Sunday as a tribute to Hindu Sindhis, who laid the foundations of Karachi in ancient times
The nikkah ceremony of Fatima Bhutto, 40, niece of slain former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto, and daughter of Murtaza Bhutto, took place at her grandfather’s library on Friday
According to media reports, Fatima Butto’s husband is an American citizen. Accompanied by her brother Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Junior and Hindu leaders, Fatima and her husband, a Christian, poured milk over the deity as per rituals
The wedding news was shared on Twitter by Fatima's brother who goes by the same name as his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto with the caption, "On behalf of our father, Shaheed Mir Murtaza Bhutto, and the Bhutto family, I’m very happy to share some happy news. My sister Fatima and Graham were married in an intimate nikkah ceremony yesterday at our home, 70 Clifton."
Fatima Bhutto tweeted, "Yesterday, Graham and I married in a small nikkah ceremony in my family home, 70 Clifton." She further said that aside from Nikkah, they won't be having any other ceremonies. She wrote, "I’m not one for opulent weddings but especially now it feels so inappropriate given what so many are struggling through."
The picture of the couple at the temple was shared by a user Saad Ahmad Khan on his Twitter account with the caption, "She is @fbhutto niece of Benazir Bhutto and Grand daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, once a ruling elite, with his brother and newly reverted Husband Gibran (formerly, Graham), Gibran might be thinking why even I converted if I have to do this all. Look at low self-esteem elites."
In the image circulating all over social media, Fatima and her husband can be seen pouring milk over the idol as per customs, accompanied by her brother Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Junior and Hindu dignitaries at the temple
The Bhutto family has remained a formidable force in Pakistan politics but has also been hit by several tragedies over the decades. Fatima's grandfather and the former Pakistan PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged by the late military dictator Zia ul Haq in April 1979 after a military coup
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, who also served as Pakistan's Prime Minister from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996, was assassinated in Rawalpindi in December 2007