This episode focuses on the ongoing and worsening crisis in Balochistan, where militancy is rising and the political process shows no signs of improving. Rafiullah Kakar joins Uzair to explain what is going on in the province, the root causes of the insurgency, and why a number of political problems have added fuel to the burning fire in Balochistan.

Finally, Rafiullah also discusses his research on the structural and constitutional drivers of the core political economy issues in the province, with the conversation concluding on what can be done to alleviate the crisis in Balochistan.

Rafiullah Kakar is a policy analyst currently pursuing a PhD at Cambridge University, where he is seeking to understand the political economy of sub-national state capacity through a comparative study of education policy in two Pakistani provinces: Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

You can read Rafiullah Kakar’s paper that was discussed on the podcast here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14662043.2024.2382458

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:50 Worsening militancy in Balochistan

17:10 Engaging with young political leaders

25:50 India’s role in the insurgency

32:20 Is the status quo secure?

36:10 Structural drivers of the issues

47:20 Devolution of power

56:00 Competition in politics