Studying National Identity Construction Through Social Studies/History Textbooks in Balochistan, Pakistan

States work to maintain their identity in a world that is becoming more globalized. It becomes crucial for the nations that were formerly British colonies. In an effort to maintain a Muslim identity based on the struggle of the Muslims of the subcontinent, Pakistan, a former British colony, strives to promote itself as a nation that is homogenized on the basis of Islam. The main source of official knowledge for this purpose is school textbooks, where social studies and history textbooks are extremely important. With Bhabha\u27s conceptual tools of pedagogical and performative narratives, this qualitative narrative study attempted to investigate how the social studies and history textbooks of grades 4–10 construct a national identity in the province of Balochistan, which had its own troubled history with the Pakistani state. The study found that the textbooks frequently build binary oppositions between Hindus and Muslims based on the Two- Nation theory in order to support the establishment of Pakistan. The narratives, predominantly pedagogical in nature, tend to switch the portrayal of Muslims from rulers to victims as Muslims’ status changes from rulers of the subcontinent to the victims of Hindu conspiracies which, as presented in the textbooks, continue to date. Such stories frequently foster prejudice against the nation\u27s ethnic and religious minorities. The narratives tend to ignore the culture and history of the inhabitants of the Balochistan province, especially the Baloch, who have a long history of violent political rebellion against the Pakistani state, while portraying a homogenized Muslim identity for all ethnic groups. The overemphasis on Muslim identity and the stereotypical representation of Hindus seem to incite animosity toward religious minorities as well as unease and resistance among ethnic minorities like the Baloch, whose language, culture, and history are in danger of vanishing