HANDWRITTEN NOTES CLASS 12TH 'HUMANITIES' POLITICAL SCIENCE CHAPTER 5 CONTEMPORARY SOUTH - ASIA Meaning of South Asia- The expression 'South Asia' usually includes the following countries: (i) Bangladesh (ii) India (iii) The Maldives (iv) Nepal (v) Pakistan (vi) Bhutan (vii) Sri Lanka. • South Asia stands for diversity in every sense and yet constitutes one geo-political space. Despite the mixed record of the democratic experience ,the people in all these countries share the aspiration for democracy . Following are the three arguments in support of this statement: (i) A survey was done recordly to know the attitudes of the people in the five big countries of South Asia . This survey clearly showed that there was widespread support for democracy in all these countries. (ii) Ordinary citizens, including rich as well as poor belonging to various religions consider the idea of democracy positively and assist the institutions...