Even as the movement by the Opposition to oust the military regime is gathering steam, a recent study claims a majority of Pakistanis back army rule in the predominantly Muslim nation with Bangladesh being the only other South Asian country to follow the trend.

"The idea that the country should be governed by the army was endorsed by six out of every 10 responses in Pakistan and Bangladesh," the 'State of Democracy in South Asia' report said, adding that about half the Pakistanis opinioned both the democratic or non-democratic forms of government made no difference to them.

The least support for army rule is in India, the report said, adding that the support for the army rule diminishes in the countries that are educationally forefront.

But overall, the South Asians overwhelmingly support democracy with Sri Lanka [Images] emerging as the country where democracy was most popular, while India was placed third in terms of the percentage of people expressing support for the democratic system, the study said.

"The people not only approve of democratic arrangements, they find it suitable for their own contexts. Seven out of eight responses in the region, higher than in East Asia, held that democracy was suitable or very suitable for their own country," the report said.

The study found that the citizens of South Asia do not simply like democracy; they prefer it over authoritarian rule. "With the exception of Pakistan, about two-thirds of those who responded preferred democracy over any other form of government," the report added.

For every one response that endorses dictatorship, there are six that prefer democracy, which compares favourably with the ratio obtained in East Asia, Latin America and post-Soviet era countries of Europe, the survey said.

"The world since 9/11 has seen the rise of another hypothesis of disconnect between Islam and democracy. South Asia is home to over a quarter of the global Muslim population. Muslims are either the majority or a significant minority in all the five countries of the region," the study said, pointing out, "This will have implications beyond South Asia."

The survey was conducted in five South Asian countries -- Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and was prepared by the CSDS in tie-up with the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm and Department of Sociology, Oxford University.