Exploration of the foundations of ethnic conflicts in Balochistan: a theoretical perspective

The objective of this study is to understand the foundations of the violent ethnic conflicts of Balochistan, a federating unit of Pakistan so that the primary causes of the conflict are to be addressed. The mainstream theories of ethnic conflicts, i.e., primordialism, instrumentalism, and constructivism, are reviewed and applied in the context of Balochistan. This research attempt has been made because, in the past, the state responded to ethnic conflicts without understanding the actual causes. The qualitative research methodology with descriptive and interpretive approaches has been adopted to address the objectives. The article is principally based on a critical review of the literature. The arguments have been developed by juxtaposing the primary and secondary information collected through books, journals, periodicals, and electronic sources. It is argued that primordialism has limited explanatory power while constructivism has explanatory power, but its appeal is limited in Balochistan’s context. Instrumentalism explains the foundations sufficiently, while primordialism and constructivism provide the bases for instrumentalism. It is suggested that reconciliations should be adopted as the policy for ethnic conflicts so that the political and economic causes that play an instrumental role in addressing the ethnic conflicts can be resolved.