Deconstructing the Fable of Inclusive National Identity in Pakistan Account of Dwindling Kalasha Indigenous Identity in Chitral Authors

Abstract

Ideological and Cultural identities are commonly observed as a few of the integral facets of human societal identity variables, but in Pakistan, ideological alterations are oftentimes equated as binary to the commonly shared notion of Islamic identity. The animistic ideological identity of the Kalasha community in Chitral holds a global prominence and recognition that dates back to centuries, but in recent decades their indigenous identity and norms have been under a consistent spell of exclusivist identity projection, leaving their distinctive identity norms and animistic cultural values at the peril of hovering extinction. The study initially builds on the ongoing religiously influenced national identity formation in Pakistan aiming further to highlight the systematic causes of the Kalasha community's endangered indigenous identity decline, using the lens of Identity Subordination theory’. The paper aims to unveil how exclusive identity formation through incentivized stratagems is being perpetuated against the community by the dominant religious Sunni (Clerical) group. The paper finally proposes the need for the adoption and implementation of inclusive attitudes and actions, along with much-needed measures both at the grassroots and state level for combatting the ethno-terrorism carried out against the Kalasha identity and indigenous culture.