Balochistan
-
Restore the Princes?
Under one paramountcy, Swat built three colleges and over three hundred schools while the Nawabs of Dir kept education out. Same institution, same security, opposite outcomes. Whatever the case for…
-
Pakistan & India as Imperial Nation States
X.T.M reports a conference claim that India and Pakistan are post-imperial states smothering small nations, does not adopt that frame, and argues that ethnicity resurges in Pakistan because Islam has…
-
Open thread
An open thread opening with the 24 May 2026 vehicle bombing in Quetta, claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army, which killed at least 24, and the writer’s criticism of how…
-
Arab Fathers are not fabrications (entirely)
Answering BB’s claim that Pakistanis invent foreign fathers, the author argues South Asian Muslims are not one block: Pashtuns, Baloch, Hazaras and Sayyids carry foreign ancestry the genetic record supports,…
-
On Breakup Fantasies and Basic Geopolitical Decency
X.T.M distinguishes criticising a state from fantasising about its breakup. He argues that states fracture when weak institutions meet sustained external pressure, cites 1971 and the Arab Spring, and says…
-
Why Balochistan Is Not Kashmir
X.T.M argues Balochistan should not be equated with Kashmir, which is an internationally anchored dispute through UN resolutions, treaties and wars, while Balochistan is legally an internal matter, though he…
-
Pakistan Is Not About to Break Apart
X.T.M argues predictions of Pakistan’s imminent break-up are confirmation bias, since Pashtuns are integrated into the state and economy and states collapse only when elites defect, borders become porous and…
-
Baloch, Aboriginal, and Beyond: Tracing Forgotten Lineages & Evolving Identities
Prompted by a family-history article by Sabah Rind, the author traces a Baloch-Aboriginal-Malay lineage as a product of Indian Ocean migration and trade. He argues ancestry is more layered than…