This occasional paper examines Balochistan’s struggle for autonomy, from British colonial “Sandemanisation” to its forced 1948 accession to Pakistan. By highlighting the suppression of Kalat’s independence and the exploitation of regional resources, Ray illustrates how systemic marginalisation transformed a secular identity movement into an enduring conflict against centralised state authority.

This Occasional Paper weaves together international and regional developments in the 1940s to show that Britain wanted Pakistan and Kashmir as part of the Islamic arc envisaged by it in 1947 as a buffer against the Soviet influence.