INTERIOR Minister Nisar Ali Khan had suggested that the new policy to register International Non-Governmental Organisations and regulate their activities would be tough but fair — and on Thursday he announced a set of measures that clearly lived up to the former.

Whether they will be fairly implemented is something that only experience will tell.

The problem with the government’s interest in imposing a new regulatory framework on the INGOs was less that the state is not entitled to do so — it clearly is and all entities working with the public should be regulated — but its apparent motives in doing so.

The fiasco over Save the Children, the INGO whose operations were to be shut down for vague official reasons, but whose real sin was believed to have been an alleged link to Dr Shakeel Afridi, had suggested that the real purpose behind the new regulations was to be able to circumscribe any activities of INGOs that the security establishment was not comfortable with.

Also read: Over two dozen INGOs access online registration site

Consider that the interior minister has now stipulated that INGOs will not indulge in money laundering, terror financing, weapons smuggling, anti-state activities or maintain links with proscribed organisations. If any of that has indeed been a problem in the past, it would be a very serious violation.

The right course of action would be to publicly proceed against such organisations for violating the law and bring it to the attention of the global community of INGOs. But there has been no evidence provided by the government of any such activity.

Instead, there have been allusions to INGOs operating outside their official remit and in areas that are allegedly sensitive. In the real world, that is often code for working with vulnerable communities in areas that are affected by the kind of militancy and violence that the state considers a challenge.

The problem is that areas hit by violence and militancy are often precisely the type of places where vulnerable populations reside — and that is often the very purpose of INGOs: to reach people that the state is unable to help or unwilling to prioritise assistance towards.

Ultimately, for true security in a multidimensional sense, there must be a balance between people-centric security and a militarised version of it. Not only do INGOs often provide valuable assistance to the most vulnerable people, they also act as a bridge to the international community.

Pakistan needs to engage with the outside world rather than cut itself off from it. In some cases, the new regulations turn on its head the real security dilemma: it is INGOs and their international staff that are often at threat from extremist elements in society here.

In treating INGOs with such suspicion while disregarding their real security issue, the government will make it even more difficult for them to operate in this climate. Common sense and compassion are needed to guide policy.

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2015

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