Failed Nation-Building in Pakistan and Ethnic Challenges: A Case Study of Baluchi Ethnic Group

Pakistan is a post-colonial state in which different ethnic groups live. These ethnic groups have intended to gain their independence by emphasizing their unique linguistic, cultural and ethnic components since the establishment of this country. Baluchi ethnic group is one of the groups in Pakistan that since the separation of this country from India has always posed a serious challenged for the security of Pakistan. The main goal of this article is studying the historical record of Baluchi nationalism and examining the policies pursued by Pakistan towards it with an emphasis on failed nation-building in this country. This article while studying the nation-building process in Pakistan, tries to answer the question that why Baluchi ethnic group has always challenged the security of Pakistan? The findings of this article show that failed nation-building is an effective factor in creating disintegrationist tendencies among Baluchis in multi-ethnic Pakistan. Therefore, the main claim of this article is that the weakness and failure of Pakistan in the process of nation-building and its inability to integrate Baluchi ethnic group into a single nation paved the way for strengthening centrifugal forces among this ethnic group which in turn put Pakistan's security under challenge.