Baluch ethnicity and nationalism (1971–81): an assessment

Abstract

Ethnicity and ethnic conflict have dominated much of the discourse in contemporary politics, as ethnic resurgence has been on the rise the world over in both modernising and developed societies. Ethnic conflict can be studied in terms of a number of variables to explain the processes and dynamics of a particular ethnic movement. This paper seeks to study the Baluch movement in Pakistan mainly in terms of three variables: the nature and pattern of the movement, the role of the state, and the external dynamics, all of which singly and collectively impacted on the rise and decline of the movement. The paper examines the socio‐economic basis for the growth of separatist sentiments among the Baluch and argues that it was the weak nature and essentially fragmented strategies of the movement, the response and policies pursued by the central leadership and the failure of the Baluch to elicit any meaningful external support that contributed to the gradual decline of the movement. The time frame under consideration here is from 1971, when the movement was on its rise, until 1981, when the movement ceased to be an issue in the Pakistani polity.