BALOCH ETHNO-NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN PAKISTAN AND THE GREAT POWER POLITICS

Abstract

In view of the genuine and unaddressed grievances of the Baloch and the geo-strategic significance of Balochistan, this doctoral study attempts to establish a correlation between the ongoing Baloch Ethno-Nationalist Movement in Pakistan and the Great Powers interests in the region. The study argues that the Baloch Ethno-Nationalist Movement has persisted for seventy long years (1948-2020) even though it lacks in the principal prerequisites of a successful Ethno-Nationalist movement as defined by Paul Brass. The case study of Baloch nation and nationalism is discussed under the modernist and post-modernist paradigms. It is primarily a qualitative study that has employed an inductive approach of research. Both primary and secondary sources of data collection and analysis have been employed to deconstruct and interpret the discourses on Baloch nation and nationalism. Semi structured interviews with the Baloch nationalist and political leadership, foreign policy experts and personnel of armed forces and intelligence agencies of Pakistan have been carried out to have an informed analysis. Focus group interviews were conducted with common Baloch and young activists. The study regards Baloch nation as a construct and defines the contours of the ongoing movement based on the 'selected' symbols of Baloch culture and history and the present socio-political and economic context. Under the Instrumentalist framework the study argues that the Baloch nationalist movement is used to serve certain purposes. The study has concluded that the Baloch leadership has instrumentalized the movement for both communal interests and for the restoration of their own political and social prestige. United States of America on the other hand in collaboration with its strategic ally India is using the separatist element of the movement to balance China's rise as a regional hegemon in Asia to protect its financial and strategic interests in the region.