Bramsh Khan

In Balochistan, in southwest Pakistan, there exists an inherent contradiction in transnational infrastructural projects which—while claiming to promote connectivity—are erasing histories of Indigenous Baloch communities and disconnecting them from their lands and seascapes. To show how this works in practice, I focus on the central part of this transnational infrastructural project: the M8 motorway, also known as Ratodaro Gwadar Motorway. M8 is developed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a vital part of China’s broader Belt and Road Initiative. Through an ethnographic film, I showcase the 247 km stretch of the M8 motorway in Southern Balochistan to reveal how this M8 has forcibly displaced Baloch communities, increased surveillance, and restricted the movement of Baloch women. My goal is to show how Baloch communities, especially Baloch women, construct, connect, and maintain their communal lives despite the challenges of violent infrastructural encroachment. These women use their indigenous practices and networks, which I call “Indigenous infrastructures,” to counteract the disruption caused by large-scale projects like the M8. Focusing on connectivity, I highlight the everyday women-led practices of embroidery (dochi), crocheting (koreshia), and the unique rituals of collective prayer and remembrance (Zigr o Chogani) as potent examples of Indigenous connectivity practices.