W hat is S outh A sia ? We are all familiar with the gripping tension during an India-Pakistan cricket match. We have also seen the goodwill and hospitality shown to visiting Indian and Pakistani fans by their hosts when they come to watch a cricket match. This is symbolic of the larger pattern of South Asian affairs.
Ours is a region where rivalry and goodwill, hope and despair, mutual suspicion and trust coexist. Let us begin by asking an elementary question: what is South Asia? The expression ‘South Asia’ usually includes the following countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The mighty Himalayas in the north and the vast Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in the south, west and east respectively provide a natural insularity to the region, which is largely responsible for the linguistic, social and cultural distinctiveness of the sub- continent.
The boundaries of the region are not as clear in the east and the west, as they are in the north and the south. Afghanistan and Myanmar are often included in discussions of the region as a whole. China is an important player but is not considered to be a part of the region. In this chapter, we shall use South Asia to mean the seven countries mentioned above.
Thus defined, South Asia stands for diversity in every sense and yet constitutes one geo- political space. The various countries in South Asia do not have the same kind of political systems. Despite many problems and limitations, Sri Lanka and India have successfully operated a democratic system since their independence from the British. You will study more about the evolution of democracy in India in the textbook that deals with politics in India since independence.
It is, of course, possible to point out many limitations of India’s democracy; but we have to remember the fact that India has remained a democracy throughout its existence as an independent country. The same is true of Sri Lanka. Pakistan and Bangladesh h a v e e x p e r i e n c e d b o t h civilian and military rulers, with Bangladesh remaining a democracy in the post-Cold War period. Pakistan began the post- Cold War period with successive democratic governments under Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif respectively.
But it suffered a military coup in . It has been run by a civilian government again since . Till , Nepal was a constitutional monarchy with the danger of the king taking over executive powers. In , the monarchy was abolished and Nepal emerged as a democratic republic.
From the experience of Bangladesh and Nepal, we can say that democracy is becoming an accepted norm in the entire region of South Asia. Identify some features common to all the South Asian countries but different from countries in West Asia or Southeast Asia. Is there a fixed definition of these regions? Who decides that?