One Unit: A Case Study of Baluchistan

Abstract

The post-colonial Pakistani state has been confronting many political upheavals since its inception. These upheavals, like most of the post-colonial states, are an outcome of the power structure Pakistan had acquired from the colonial state system. The post-colonial state in this way centralized powers like its predecessors; only a few ethnic groups like (Punjabi and Muhajir), the people who migrated from India to Pakistan during the partition of the Sub-Continent, had domination over politics and economy due to their huge share in the powerful institutions of military and bureaucracy since colonial times. The ruling elites had most often adopted and perpetuated the colonial legacies to enhance and reproduce their power. For example, after independence, the state of Pakistan had accepted and adopted 1935 Act, albeit with a different name, which was framed by the colonial state. The ruling elites further centralized it instead of implementing its federal part, thus speaks volumes about the nature and genesis of political structure established soon after the Partition