Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr talks about his queer politics, drag performances, art and masculinity

After the hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto went on to join mainstream politics, while her brothers formed the Al-Zulfiqar. While the siblings had their differences, all of them were undoubtedly determined to carry out the legacy of their father. But it is the third generation of Bhuttos where the spectrum has spread more profusely to show the divide between the Bhuttos.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has now been launched in Pakistan’s political arena more than once. And as the leader of the PPP he is the acknowledged heir to the political legacy of his maternal grandfather. On the other side of the aisle, Fatima Bhutto, the daughter of Murtaza, while not an explicitly political figure is hell bent on preserving the legacy of her father through literary endeavours.

In the third generation of the Bhutto clan, however, the one figure that is the prime example of a shifting consciousness is Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr. It is perhaps fitting in context of changing modern narratives that the patriarchal heir to the Bhutto name shares his name with his imperious grandfather: for he is perhaps the farthest from his grandfather out of all his grandchildren.

The younger ZAB, currently residing in the USA after completing his education, is very politically active. But his slogans are not those of roti, kapra aur makan. He does not use symbols of swords, arrows or blood to push his political opinions. His tools rather are poetry, visual art and performance art.

ZAB Jr was recently interviewed for ‘The Tumeric Project’ in which he described his own inclinations towards queer politics and his active role in the anti-Trump movement in the United States. He talks about his art and perceptions of masculinity as well as discussing how his performances as a drag queen help him to develop awareness in the LGBTQ community he works closely in and around.

The video shows a rather eccentric looking Bhutto talking about his work in the queer community and his drag performances at the ‘eclectic tenderloin’ gay bar known as Aunt Charlie’s Lounge. The video is mainly about Bhutto’s art series called “Musalmaan Muscleman.” A project in which he explores the softer effeminate side of masculinity and the images of strength often projected onto men in the Middle East and the subcontinent.

And while it is mainly about his art, the journey behind it is telling to say the least. The interview shows the shift in priorities that comes with proximity. ZAB Jr’s problems are no longer problems of loadshedding, poverty or land reforms – his problems are now those of gender identity, and racism. His methods are not fiery speeches but flowery art and soft poetry. And while everything else may have changed, what remains is the Bhutto eccentricity and desire to do something.