[sacw] The anti-NGO campaign in Pakistan

[aiindex@mnet.fr]

June 3, 1999
FYI ( i would like to warmly acknowledge Zubair Faisal Abbasi for
forwarding the belwo article)
(South Asia Citizens Web)
=====================================
THE ANTI-NGO CAMPAIGN [in Pakistan]

By Omar Asghar Khan

THE ongoing anti-NGO campaign has four main characteristics. It is
arbitrary. It has not followed the due process of law. Its motives are
suspect. And its tenor is venomous. Over 2,000 NGOs recently dissolved
have no right to appeal. Extreme action is taken on flimsy grounds.

For instance, the declaration of HRCP's widely read newsletter was
cancelled because the organization's change in address was not
communicated to the authorities. Individuals claiming to represent the
special branch of the police are making unannounced visits to NGO offices.
They refuse to show any proof of credentials and subject the NGO staff to
a suspect line of questioning. "What is your NGOs position on the nuclear
tests and on Kashmir? What is your relationship with Asma Jehangir?" are
some of their queries.

Public Interest Organizations (PIOs) working on human and women's rights
and environmental and livelihood rights are the main targets of the
campaign. These include reputed and credible organizations like the
Institute for Women Studies of the Applied Socio-economic Research (ASR),
Aurat Foundation, Shirkat Gah, Simorgh, Ajoka, Dastak, and the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan. Unfounded, and even indecent, allegations
have been levelled by Punjab's minister for social welfare. In one of his
vitriolic statements he accused Shirkat Gah of misusing Rs.80 million
received by it from the World Bank. A rebuttal from the Bank saying it has
never provided any funding to Shirkat Gah made it clear that the
allegation was not based on fact.

This campaign severely tarnishes the image of the government at home and
abroad. It has created deep mistrust between the government and the PIOs.
It is difficult, in this case, to miss the irony of the situation. On the
one hand, some functionaries of the government are continuing the
vilification campaign against the PIOs while on the other the government
is seeking the NGO input in activities that range from programme
implementation to policy and institutional reform in a wide spectrum of
sectors like forestry, health and education.

The irony becomes more baffling if one considers that the Punjab minister
is waging a war against rights-based PIOs while the government's draft
National Poverty Alleviation Strategy discussed in April 1999 emphasizes
the need to "include explicit programmes to address priority issues of
human rights as direct manifestations of poverty and social exclusion." It
recommends that "affirmative action programmes should be undertaken to
redress the disadvantaged position of particular groups such as women and
minorities."

Contradictions in the government's actions abound. For instance, the prime
minister often sees it fit to personally express grief to a rape victim in
a highly publicized visit that normally includes a pledge to stop violence
against women. Yet the government is hounding women's rights organizations
and activists working to remove root causes of violence against women. At
international forums, the government is quick to express its commitment to
women's and human rights. Yet at home it fails to respond to calls to
provide adequate protection to women's and human rights activists who
receive threats from vested interests.

To add insult to injury, certain members of the Senate on the floor of the
house denigrate the excellentwork of these activists in reprehensibly foul
language. Women's rights activists are labelled westernized, un-Islamic
and anti-state. Yet many of them, at the state's invitation, authored
Pakistan's National Report for the UN's Conference on Women held in
Beijing in 1996. These highly committed professional women and men have
worked tirelessly in Pakistan and have also represented the country at
various international forums earning recognition for their efforts and
respect for Pakistan.

To comprehend the rationale for the government's anti-NGO campaign it is
important to trace the evolution of the PIOs. The traditional NGO is
charity-oriented. It is neutral. It does not challenge inequities caused
by the existing socio-economic and political structures. It provides
services like installing hand pumps to ensure drinking water supply and
carrying out immunization campaign to reduce the incidence of diseases.
But a meaningful and lasting development is possible only if attention is
given to the provision of services as well as to removing the barriers to
the accessing resources and services.

This realization compelled NGOs to incorporate a greater social
mobilization and public interest agenda into their work, turning them into
PIOs. PIOs help people to organize collective action. They provide
para-legal training and legal aid to increase accessibility to justice.
They provide quality education and easy access to credit to give the poor
more
opportunities for development. They also make necessary interventions so
that the policies are people-centred and pro-poor. They question the
decision-making institutions and structures that exclude the non-elite
through the dominance of the power elite. They challenge existing patterns
of ownership, access and control over resources, services and
decision-making that widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

There has been a marked escalation in the intensity and scale of hostility
to rights based organizations following two recent campaigns by the
rights-based organizations. The campaign for peace following the nuclear
tests in May 1998 and the campaign to stop the passage of the 15th
Constitutional Amendment initiated last year. The government claims that
these campaigns transgress the mandate of the NGOs.

But an agenda of environmental protection cannot ignore the threats posed
by nuclearization. And efforts to include the socially excluded in
decision-making processes will remain hollow if they do not take note of
the government attempts to centralize power. The intensity in the
hostility has also increased. Death threats have publicly been made
against Asma Jehangir and Hina Jilani following the murder of Samia Imran
in their offices. Thousands of the so-called Pakistani Taliban, at a
public meeting in Peshawar in May 1999, brazenly threatened to break the
limbs and gorge the eyes of the activists working on human and women's
rights.

The growing hostility is directed at various rights-based PIOs by
different sections of the power elite. Within this diversity one can
discern some common trends. The frequently made allegations include that
rights-based organizations spread un-Islamic values, promote western
culture, work against national interest and defame Pakistan by misusing
donor-provided resources. But there is no substance to these allegations.

The government is also reportedly renewing its attempts to introduce
legislation to control the NGO work. An ordinance is likely to be
promulgated amending the existing Societies Act that regulates the NGO
work at present. According to a news item published in this newspaper on
May 21, 1999, the proposed NGO bill will give powers to the government to
dissolve an NGO and seize its assets. It stipulates that an NGO can be
dissolved if the registrar believes it is acting in contravention of its
purposes, rules and regulations or if the registrar feels it is
functioning in a manner prejudicial to public interest. This stipulation
is very susceptible to easy manipulation and misuse. Also the right to
appeal against the decision of the registrar is severely restricted.
According to the news item "the dissolved society will have the right to
file an appeal before the provincial government against its dissolution
and the orders to be passed afterwards will be final."

Clearly the nature of the law is draconian and its intent is to give the
government absolute powers to restrict the activities of the rights-based
civil society organizations. There is a real danger that such a law will
be used to intimidate and even ban some rights-based organizations.

The antagonism created by the anti-NGO campaign is leading to a no-win
situation. The government must accept that a robust and vibrant civil
society is an essential part of democracy. In nations that profess
democratic credentials the government and the civil society must develop a
pattern that should include both dissent and collaboration. This may lead
to creative partnership. To develop such a partnership, it is imperative
that an environment is created for the accommodation of differing ideas
and for promoting a culture of peace and tolerance.

This will only be possible if the government takes three important
actions. First, it must immediately stop the vilification campaign against
the PIOs. Second, it should recognize and legitimize the role of the
rights-based work of the PIOs in the process of institutional change and
the provision of services to the disadvantaged. And, third, it must create
an enabling environment for civil society to function unfettered in
accordance with the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution to
associate and to freely express opinions.

The writer is executive director of Sungi Development Foundation.

[source: http://www.dawn.com/daily/19990603/op.htm#2
DAWN Internet Edition: 03 June 1999

------------------------------------------------------------------------

eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/act
http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications