Federalism under Stress: Ethnic Identity vs. National Integrity in Pakistan
Abstract
This article discusses the systemic stress-disease faced by federal structure of Pakistan by analyzing the basic conflict between ethnic sub nationalism and the national integrity of the state of Pakistan, which is being pursued by the state of Pakistan. A theoretical analysis, inspired by theories of holding-together federalism, consociationalism, securitization, and internal colonialism, shows that the paradox of Pakistan's constitutional design is that it has fostered the centrifugal ethnic opposition that it is trying to deter. The analysis examines the historical centralization in the 1973 constitution, the incomplete devolutionary promise of the 18th Amendment and the fiscal federalism fault-lines that continue to create structural inequality in the distribution of resources by population. Using the paradigmatic case studies of the problem of resource extraction and insurgency in Balochistan and the urban-rural ethnic conflict in Sindh, the article shows how FD works at various levels, interprovincial with federation and province, as well as intra-provincially in the majority-minority conflicts. The study also highlights new stressors such as trans-provincial ethnic mobilization for constitutional inclusion, unresolved Seraiki province movement, water scarcity due to climate change which has potential to generate inter-provincial resource conflict. The main thesis is that the federal stress in Pakistan is enmeshed in a vicious circle because the federal policies of securing national unity give more power to the fringes of Pakistan that demand separation and make the federal structure illegitimate. The article ends by suggesting a re-conceptualization of national integrity as ethnic covenant, i.e. the health and strength of the Pakistani nation does not come from cultural uniformity, but from a constitutionally enshrined system of distribution of resources in a fair manner and a genuine political autonomy, in which strong and secure ethnic identities are guaranteed.
Keywords: Federalism, Ethnic Identity, National Integrity, Balochistan, 18th Amendment, Internal Colonialism
