POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the political economy of Balochistan and the underlying causes of social and economic development of the province. The paper presents a brief and critical account on the historical development of the Baloch nation and nationhood. The paper argues that The Baloch notwithstanding having a huge and resourceful land has failed to keep the pace of socio-economic development and modernity with other fellow nations in the region. After the independence of Pakistan and the formation of Balochistan as a province of Pakistan, the Baloch because of her political disorganization and economic backwardness failed to exert herself within the federation to grab the resource share. The story of economic and social backwardness of the Baloch and Balochistan is a multifaceted puzzle. A section of the Baloch nationalists believe that the centralist nature of Pakistani federation is such that small nationalities like the Baloch would find it hard to accommodate within the federation. That is because, the resource distribution and representation to both elected bodies and state institutions are based upon population, and Balochistan in spite of having 44% of Pakistan territory accommodates only 5% of country’s total population. The paper also touches the geostrategic importance of Balochistan and underlines its economic difficulty in terms of the dearth of human resources, physical infrastructure, economic autonomy, productivity among others.