Notes, South Asia

Civil Disobedience: A form of protest that doesn’t use violence or verbal abuse but still refuses to obey unjust laws. Gandhi: Leader of Indian Independence movement. South Asia I. British Colonialism a. Much of South Asia was conquered by British by 1856. i. East India Trade company used inter-kingdom rivalry to gain control 1. trade monopoly gave motivation 2. soldiers charged to protect company assets took charge of the country little by little ii. European powers were more concerned with inter-European competition iii. Once the French were defeated the British had sole control b. Independence movements/Revolutions failed prior to Gandhi – i. 1858 nationalized India as a colony and dissolved link to company ii. response to a rebellion and a claim that the British were discriminating against individuals of Indian descent II. Independence movement a. Led by Mahatma Gandhi – nonviolence i. Made his own clothes, salt march ii. Hunger strikes iii. Refusal to retaliate b. Independence in 1947 III. Fracture a. Religious tensions in India fueled splinter of Pakistan (east and west India) as a Muslim nation i. Created simultaneously by Britain with support of Muslim league ii. Gandhi advocated unity, but assassinated by Hindhu fanatic. b. Rioting killed thousands during the mass migrations c. Three wars between India and Pakistan i. Kashmir ii. Creation of Bangladesh d. Nuclear fears i. India tested a nuclear weapon in 1974 and 1998 ii. Pakistan in 1998 iii. Feared war in 1998 avoided narrowly IV. Terrorism a. Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan all have sizeable terrorist threats b. Makes crisis an international issue as nuclear weapons are involved V. Government a. All but two of the governments are forms of dictatorship.

i. India and Sri Lanka are the only exceptions and in Sri Lanka the president has vast powers. ii. Possibility of change in Pakistan 1. Key political opponent recently assassinated 2. Pressure by US to keep Taliban in check b. Pressure of China VI.

Poverty a. South Asia has some of the poorest people in the world. i. Bangladesh and Afghanistan are extremely poor for their size ii. India and Pakistan have huge wealth extremes iii. lack of infrastructure 1. natural disaster has greater impact 2. tsunami 2004 3. earthquakes iv. dense populations 1. India has the second largest population in the world. 2. 1.2 billion 3. seconded only to China and growing much faster