Contemporary South Asia
What is South Asia?
Explain why the South Asian experience widened the idea of democracy.
In this chapter, South Asia means seven countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan and Myanmar are often discussed with the region but are not in this list.
The region is marked off by nature: the Himalayas in the north and the seas on the other sides. This natural insularity gave it a distinct culture, language mix and shared history, yet the countries are very different from each other.
Their political journeys have differed:
| Country | Political path |
|---|---|
| India, Sri Lanka | democracies ever since independence |
| Pakistan, Bangladesh | long spells of military rule, alternating with democracy |
| Nepal | a monarchy; became a republic in 2008 |
| Bhutan | a monarchy; became a constitutional monarchy in 2008 |
| Maldives | a Sultanate till 1968, then a republic; multi-party system from 2005 |
Despite the coups and conflicts, a large survey of over 19,000 people in five of these countries found wide support for democracy, among the rich and poor, in every religion and region. People wanted democracy and believed they could change things through it.
This matters for the whole world: it shows that democracy is not only for rich Western countries. South Asia's experience has widened the idea of where democracy can take root.
So the region is a mixed picture: conflict and poverty, but also a steady move towards democracy as the normal way to be governed.
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