Identities at the Borders of Balochistan: An Ethnolinguistic Study of Saraiki Speaking Baloch Tribes

Abstract

Balochistan shares a border with Punjab and Sindh, which makes Balochistan a linguistically diverse province. Within ethnic groups residing in Balochistan, there is a huge variety of languages spoken. This scenario raises the question of the ethno-linguistic identity of people residing at the borders of Balochistan. The present study focuses on the ethnic and linguistic identity of Baloch tribes that speak Saraiki and reside at the Balochistan Punjab border and Balochistan Sindh border. The study explores the role of language in the identity formation of Saraiki speaking Baloch tribes. The data is collected through Semi-Structured interviews of 10 Saraiki speaking Baloch. The findings revealed that the replacement of Balochi language with Saraiki language has little or no influence on their ethnic identity as Baloch. However, there are few factors such as gender, level of education, knowledge of history and the passage of time that contribute to the acceptability of Saraiki speaking as Baloch