SUNS 4360 Tuesday 26 January 1999
Pakistan: NGOs under scrutiny in Sharif's home province
Lahore, Jan 24 (IPS/Amir Mir ) - Outspoken non-governmental organisations (NGOs), particularly those run by women, have fallen foul of the government in Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, which is led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's brother.
Ever since Sharif came to power two years ago, there have been official murmurs of the government's displeasure with NGOs - seen as meddling in politics and not doing the work they were set up to do - particularly in Punjab.
Then Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered the screening of the province's 30,000 NGOs, particularly those that are foreign-funded and involved in "anti-state", "anti- religion", and "anti-social" activities.
But who exactly the government was after became clear on Jan.
7 when Punjab's Minister for Social Welfare Pir Binyameen Rizvi launched an attack on NGOs, that are progressive and secular, through a column in the Urdu-language daily 'Pakistan'.
"The horrifying aspect is that some NGOs have become a tool of India and Indians frequently visit Pakistan," he wrote. "We are all Pakistanis. Patriotism is more important to us than our lives ..."
The target of the minister's attack was the Lahore-based NGO headed by Nighat Saeed Khan, 'Applied Socio-Economic Research' (ASR) which runs the pioneering Institute of Women's Studies Lahore (IWSL).
According to Nighat Saeed, the Institute offers post-graduate studies which includes Marxism and Feminism - two subjects that have never found official favour in Pakistan. What has caused even more dismay is that the faculty has experts from all over the world, including India, the country's sworn rival, on its rolls.
Nighat Saeed though is standing her ground. The Social Welfare Department is "fully within its rights to look into the financial accounts of NGOs," she says but she reminds the government that there is no law against teaching a curriculum that enables the students to think and understand.
"This is our aim at IWSL. The teaching of Marxism is a part of our curriculum since the ASR believes that a study of class structure is relevant to the situation in Pakistan," she adds firmly.
Binyameen under whose ministry NGOs must register however demands that the "NGOs should restrict themselves to doing what they were created to do."
What he does not want are "NGO people travelling in Pajeros, using mobile phones and enjoying personal relationship with the corrupt staff of foreign missions in the country, who have a share in the donations coming to Pakistanis NGOs," he wrote.
He is dismissive of what he calls is an "angry reaction" from NGOs now that the Punjab government has finally decided "to hold up a majority (to) financial accountability".
"We are not against accountability but we do condemn the way the Punjab government has launched a malicious propaganda campaign against NGOs in the media. Genuine accountability should always be done within the sphere of lawful authority," observes Hina Jilani of the Women's Action Forum.
"NGOs have been playing the role of a watchdog on human rights violations. They are serving the people not the government. Hence they are responsible to the people only," asserts Nigar Ahmed of the Aurat Foundation.
She adds, "We know how to protect our rights entrusted in the Constitution and we will move court whenever the need is felt."
The Sharif government feels the need to tame NGOs because it knows they are the only real pressure group in Pakistan, says Asma Jahangir, leading human rights lawyer. Since Pakistan's return to democratic rule in 1990, NGOs have emerged as the upholders of a liberal and secular tradition, and vocal defenders of human rights.
"The major thrust (of NGO activity) is to empower a person, which by its nature touches the political domain. And that is simply unacceptable to the present government," comments Jilani of the Women's Action Forum.
In her opinion the move by the provincial government was a "vilification campaign" aimed at "punishing NGOs for opposing the government's policies".
Prime Minister Sharif's attempt to make the Koran and Sunnah the supreme law of Pakistan has evoked strong criticism from NGOs, particularly women's groups who say women will suffer the most.
At a press briefing last week, the NGOs Joint Action Committee for People's Rights, an umbrella group, said the government is in a panic on pushing through the 15th Constitutional Amendment Bill or Shariat Bill, which is stuck in the Senate where Sharif does not have two-thirds support.
Prime Minister Sharif has called for a joint session of the National Assembly and Senate to clear the passage of the bill.
"The government is apparently unaware of the fact that the entire political opposition has unanimously condemned the proposed 15th amendment ... So have hundreds of prominent citizens, lawyers and all the liberal and progressive NGOs," comments Rehana Hakeem, the editor of the monthly 'Newsline'.