Contemporary south asia class 12 notes, Class 12 chapter 5 political science notes

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Contemporary South Asia Class 12 Notes: Class 12 chapter 5 political science notes

TextbookNCERT
ClassClass 12
SubjectPolitical Science
ChapterChapter 5
Chapter NameContemporary South Asia
CategoryPolitical Science
MediumEnglish

Contemporary south asia class 12 notes, Class 12 chapter 5 political science notes here we will be learn about Conflicts and efforts for Peace Democratization in South Asia: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives etc.

South Asia : –

🔹 South Asia is referred to as a group of seven countries namely Bangladesh , Bhutan , India , the Maldives , Nepal , Pakistan and Sri Lanka which stand for diversity in every sense and constitutes geo – political space. Afghanistan and Myanmar are often included in discussions of the region as a whole.

Political System of South Asian Countries : –

🔹 Sri Lanka and India have successfully operated a democratic system since their Independence from the British.

🔹 Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced both civilian and military rules.

🔹 Till 2006 , Nepal was a constitutional monarchy , now a democratic country.

🔹 Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008

🔹 The Maldives , the other island Nation , was a Sultanate till 1968 when it was transformed into a Republic with a presidential form of government.

🔹 The people in all these countries share the aspiration for democracy.

🔹 Recent surveys of attitudes of the people in the five big countries of the region showed that there is widespread support for democracy in all these countries.

Pakistan : –

🔹 After Pakistan framed its first constitution , General Ayub Khan took over the administration of the country and soon got himself elected.

🔹 After Popular dissatisfaction against his rule General Yahya Khan came to power. During Yahya’s military rule Pakistan faced the Bangladesh crisis and after a war with India In 1971. East Pakistan broke away to emerge as an independent country callled Bangladesh.

🔹 After this , an elected goveronment , under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came to power in Pakistan from 1971 to 1977. Bhutto was removed by General Zia Ul Haq in 1977.

🔹 General Zia- UI – Haq faced a pro – democracy movement from 1982 onwards and then an elected democratic government was established once again in 1988 under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto. This phase of elected democracy lasted till 1999. 

🔹 In 1999 , General Pervez Musharraf removed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and in 2001 , he elected himself as the president.

🔹 At present , Dr. Arif Alvi is the President and Shehbaz Sharif is the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Factors for Pakistan’s failure in building a stable democracy : –

🔹 The social dominance of the military , clergy and landowing aristocracy has led to the frequent overthrow of elected governments and the eshiblishment of mlitary government. 

🔹 The lack of genuine International support for democratic rule in Pakistan has further encouraged the military to continue its dominance.

🔹 The United States and other western countries have encouraged the military authoritarian rule in the past for their own reason.

India and Pakistan Relation ( Cooperation ) : – 

  • In 1960 , with the help of the World Bank , India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty.
  • The two countries have agreed to undertake confidence building measures to reduces the risk of war.
  • Social activistis and prominent personalities have collaborated to create an atmospphere of friendship among the people of both countries.
  • Leaders have met at summits to understand each other better and to find solutions to the major problems between the two neighbours. 
  • A numbers of bus routes have been opened up between the two countries.
  • Trade between the two has increased substantially in the last five years. 
  • Visas have been more easily given.

Areas with potential for India – Pakistan cooperation : –

  • Cultural ( film , songs , drama etc. ) 
  • Sports fields ( cricket , hockey etc. ) 
  • Business ( Cotton , Onion , Software etc. ).

🔹 Need for increased cooperation in both countries for poverty alleviation , development , persistence of democracy etc.

India – Pakistan conflict : –

  • 1947-48 , 1965 , 1971 , 1999 Military conflict 
  • Kashmir issue , 
  • arms race 
  • terrorism , 
  • Siachen glacier dispute.

🔹 Soon after the partition , the two countries got embroiled in a conflict over the fate of Kashmir.

🔹 The 1947-48 war resulted in the division of the province into Pakistan occupied Kashmir and the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir divided by the Line of Control. 

🔹 India’s conflict with Pakistan is also over strategic issues like the control of the Siachen glacier. and over acquisition of arms.

🔹 Both the governments continue to be suspicious of each other.

🔹 Indian government has blamed the Pakistan government for using a strategy of low – key violence by helping the Kashmiri militants with arms , training , money and protection to carry out terrorist strikes against India.

🔹 The Indian government also believes that Pakistan had aided the proKhalistani militants with arms and ammunition during the period 1985-1995.

🔹 The government of Pakistan , in turn , blames the Indian government and its security agencies for fomenting trouble in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.

🔹 The two countries are not in agreement over the demarcation line in Sir Creek In the Rann of Kutch.

Bangladesh : –

🔹 Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. It consisted of the partitioned areas of Bengal and Assam from British India. Soon after the partition , people of this region began protests against the unfair treatment meted out to the Bengali culture and language. They demanded fair representation in administration. They also demanded fair representation in political power.

Emergence of Bangladesh : –

🔹 Sheikh Mujib – ur Rahman was a leader who led the popular struggle against the domination of West Pakistan and demanded independence for Eastern region.

🔹 During the 1970’s elections , the Awami League under Sheikh Mujib – ur Rahman won all the seats in East Pakistan and secured a majority in the constituent assembly. But the government under West Pakistan leadership refused to call up the assembly . After this , Sheikh Mujib was arrested.

🔹 Under the rule of Yahya Khan , thousands of people were killed to suppress the mass movements.

🔹The people of East Pakistan were supported financially and militarily by the Indian Government for their independence. This led to a war between India and Pakistan in December 1971. The war ended with the surrender of Pakistan forces in East Pakistan and Bangladesh was formed as an independent nation.

Internal Conflicts in Bangladesh : –

🔹 The Constitution of Bangladesh was drafted with the faith in secularism , democracy and socialism . In 1975 , the Constitution was amended to shift from the parliamentary to presidential form of government by Sheikh Mujib Ur Rahman. He also abolished all parties except his own , the Awami League.

🔹 Sheikh Mujib was assassinated in a military uprising in 1975 and Ziaur Rahman , formed his own Bangladesh National Party . He won the elections of 1979 and was also assassinated . Then , the military took over under.

🔹 Lt General HM Ershad. The people of Bangladesh stood up for the demand of democracy . Some political activity on a limited scale was allowed by Ershad and in 1990 mass public protests led his government to step down . Since the elections in 1991 , representative democracy has been working in Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh relationship in ( cooperation ) : –

🔹 Economic relations have improved considerably in the last 20 years. 

🔹 Bangladesh is a part of India’s Look East ( Act East since 2014 ) policy that wants to link up with Southeast Asia via Myanmar. 

🔹 On disaster management and environmental issues , the two states have cooperated regularly. 

🔹 In 2015 , they exchanged certain enclaves. 

🔹 Efforts are on to broaden the areas of cooperation further by identifying common threats and being more sensitive to each other’s needs.

India and Baneladesh ( Conflicts ) : –  

  • Sharing of the Ganga and Brahmaputm river waters.
  • Bangladesh’s denial of illegal immigration to India.
  • Bangladesh’s support for anti – Indian Islamic fundamentalist groups. Bangladesh’s refusal to allow Indian troops to move through its territy to northeastern India.
  • Bangladesh’s decision not to export natural gas to India or allow Myanmar to do so through Bangladeshi territory.
  • Bangladashi governments have felt that the Indian government behaves like a regional bully over the sharing of river waters. 
  • Bangladeshi governments have felt that the Indian government encouraged rebellion in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
  • Indian government trying to extract its natural gas and being unfair in trade.
  • The two countries could not resolve their boundary dispute for a long while.

Nepal : –

  • Nepal was a Hindu Kingdom and became constitutional monarchy in modern period. The King of Nepal retained control over the government and restricted expansion of democracy with the help of army.

🔹 In 1990 , the king accepted the demand for new democratic constitution in response to pro – democratic movements.

🔹 In 1990s , the maoist rebels led and armes aggression against the monarch and ruling regimes.

🔹 In 2002 , the king dismissed the elected government and implemented absolute monarchy.

🔹 In 2006 , there were massive countrywide pre – democracy protests which led to the first major victory when the king was forced to restore the House of Representatives that had been dissolved in April 2002.

🔹 This was led by the Seven Party Alliance ( SPA ) , the maoists and social activists.

🔹 The maoist rebels have joined the interim government led by GP Koirala and in 2007 Nepal shifted to democracy.

🔹 In 2008 , Nepal became a democratic republic after abolishing the monarchy.

🔹 In 2015 , Nepal adopted a new constitution.

🔹 The current Prime Minister of Nepal is Sher Bahadur Deuba from Nepali Congress since July 13 , 2021. He was appointed as per Suprene court decision.

Nepal and India relations in ( Cooperation ) : – 

🔹 Nepal and India enjoy a very special relationship that has very few parallels in the world.

🔹 A treaty between the two countries allows the citizens of the two countries to travel and work in the other country without visas and passports.

Nepal and India ( Disputes ) :-

🔹 The governments of the two countries have had trade related disputes in the past. 

🔹 The Indian government has often expressed displeasure at the warm relationship between Nepal and China , and at the Nepal government’s Inaction against antlindian elements.

🔹 Indian security agencies see the Maoist movement in Nepal as a growing. secutity threat , given the rise of Naxallite groups in various Indian states from Bihar in the north to Andhra Pradesh in the south.

🔹 Many Leaders and citizens In Nepal think that the Indian government Interferes its internal affairs. They think that India has designs on Nepal’s river waters and hydro – electricity. They think India prevents Nepal , a landlocked country , from getting easier access to the sea through the Indian territory.

Sri Lanka : –

🔹 Sri Lanka got independence from British rule In 1948. Sri Lanka was then known as Ceylon. The majority of Sri Lankan are ethnic Sinhalese.

🔸 Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka :-

🔹 During British rule in Sri Lanka , British migrated nearly a million Tamils from India to work in the coffee , tea and rubber plantations. This migration continued even after independence. 

🔹 The Sri Lankan Government initiated many laws that discriminated against the Tamils. The Tamils started demanding equal rights in their homeland. However , the ethnic tension was rising in the country. The neglect of Tamil concerns led to militant Tamil nationalism. 

🔹 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ) was formed in 1976 by Prabhakaran. LTTE has been fighting an armed struggle with the army of Sri Lanka and demanding ‘ Tamil Ealam ‘ or a separate country for the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

🔸  Sending peacekeeping force by India to Sri Lanka :-

🔹 In 1987 , the Government of India was directly involved in the Sri Lankan Tamil question. Indian Peace Keeping Force ( IPKF ) was sent to Sri Lanka in the hope of bringing about peace. 

🔹 The Indian Army got Into a fight with the LTTE. The presence of Indian troops was also not liked much by the Sri Lankans. 

🔹 They saw this as an attempt by India to Interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. In 1989 the IPKF pulled out of Sri Lanka without attaining lis objective. The Sri Lankan crisis continued to be violent.

🔹 Peace talks were also held with the intervention of international actors , particularly the Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Iceland .

🔹 Finally , the armed conflict came to an end , as the LITE was vanquished In 2009.

India and Sri Lanka relations in ( Cooperation ) : –

🔹 India signed a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka , which strengthened relations between two countries.

🔹 India’s help in post – tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka has also brought the two countries closer.

India and Sri Lanka ( Disputes ) : –

🔹 The difilculties in the relationship between the governments of India and Sri Lanka are mostly over ethnic conflict in the island nation. 

🔹 Indian leaders and citizens find it impossible to remain neutural when Tamils are politically unhappy and aro being killed.

🔹 After the military intervention in 1987 , the Indian goveronment now prefers a Pollcy of disengagement vis – a – vis Sri Lanka’s internal troubles.

The Maldives : –

🔹 The Maldives is the chain of Islands located southwest of Sri Lanka and India In the Indian Ocean. It is an independent country. Maldives was a Sultanate till 1968 when it was transformed Into a republic with a presidential form of government.

🔹 In June 2005 , the parliament of the Maldives voted unanimously to introduce a multi party system. The Maldivian Democratic Party ( MDP ) dominates the political affairs of the island. Democracy strengthened in the Maldives after the 2005 elections when some opposition parties were legalised. The MDP won the 2018 Elections.

India and Maldives ( Cooperation ) : –

🔹 India’s ties with the Maldives remain warm and cordial.

🔹 In November 1988 , when some Tamil mercenaries from Sri Lanka attacked the Maldives , the Indian air force and navy reacted quickly to the Maldives request to help stop the invasion. 

🔹 India has also contributed Island’s economic development , tourism and fisheries.

Reasons for the relatively small countries of South Asia behaving suspiciously towards India : –

🔹 Sheer size , Geographical Specification , large and young population , growing economy , large military power , ahead of others in technology , important place in international politics.


Related Chapters

The Cold War Era ( Deleted )
The End of Bipolarity
US Hegemony in World Politics ( Deleted )
Contemporary Centres of Power
Contemporary South Asia
International Organisations
Security in the Contemporary World
Environment and Natural Resources
Globalisation

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