ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: Several prominent non-governmental organisations have rejected the proposed code of conduct for regulating the civil society and described it as an onslaught against them.

The NGOs are planning to convene Pakistan NGO Forum (PNF), the NGO representative body in the country, to work out a joint strategy against the code of conduct.

Shahbaz Malick of the Strengthening Participatory Organisation said NGOs had urged the PNF to build consensus against the code because of its ambiguous legal position and redundancy.

Speaking after a meeting of NGOs held to discuss the proposed code, Mr Malick said most of the participants were wary of government’s intentions.The main objective of the code that gives immense powers to the government to regulate the vibrant NGO sector in the country is to take punitive action against non-complying organisations. Its authors claim that this aims to protect the assets of NGOs from being misused by criminal elements who haven’t been defined in the document.The regulators, according to the proposed code, would review the working of NGOs, look into their funding and spending and have the authority to impose strict punitive actions on ‘defaulting organisations’, like freezing assets, dissolving board of directors and even closing down NGOs.

Although, there is a provision of appeals in the code, the process for it is very vague.

Shabana Arif from Rozan, speaking at the meeting, expressed fears that the code would add to hardships of NGOs and hinder them from speaking on sensitive issues. She was particularly sceptical about inclusion of the Ministry of Religious Affairs as an NGO regulator.

Muddasir Rizvi, a representative of Pattan, said he believed that the code would send out negative signals to the NGO sector.

Sungi’s Umar Khanzada expressed concerns about sweeping powers like dissolution and replacement of the boards and management of NGOs, which the regulators would be assuming after the enforcement of the code.

Naeem Mirza of the Aurat Foundation questioned the consultative process undertaken by the Ministry of Social Welfare while preparing the code. He stressed that mainstream NGOs should stand against it and should not be taken for granted.