Civil Society In Pakistan

Civil Society:

Civil society is the "aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens of a country. It is seen as a social sphere separate from both the state and the market. Civil society describes a wide range of organizations, networks, associations, groups and movements that are independent from government and that sometimes come together to advance their common interests through collective action. It is a sphere of social interaction between the household and the state which is manifested in the norms of community cooperative, structures of voluntary association and networks of public communication. Pakistan’s civil society is a very vibrant and has led the struggle for democracy

Despite its potential to promote peace, Pakistan’s civil society has not been that successful due to a number of reasons which include: Unregistered Organizations:

According to the estimation there are approximately 100,000 NGOs operating in Pakistan. NGOs in Pakistan are unknown because nearly half of the Pakistan’s civil society organizations are unregistered and official registration records are not routinely updated or many of them are not actively operating.

Lack of Good governance and funding: The most prevalent concern cited by civil society activists is a lack of funding and sufficient resources as the needs are more and the available resources are scarce. Most community-based groups do not receive support from the international organizations, and rely on small community donations. The lack of manpower further constrains efforts. Volunteers carry out most civil society campaigns, and organizers find it difficult to maintain volunteer commitment in the medium and long-term. Many organizations we see lack good governance, the financial management, and communications and media

More often than not, these are accompanied by certain acts of violence both by the strikers and “law enforcement agencies”. Small, localized agitations are also organized against the frequent power breakdowns, or individual suicide threats take place when police or the feudal brutality forces an issue out into the open. Organized groups are entrenched into their power and also the personality focused politics, and the use of violence based intimidation, to force into acceptance, remain quiet or to maintain an all pervasive sense of fear is rampant. Terrorist attacks, internal conflicts that are raised by the ethnic and sectarian violence, governance and development challenges constrain the Government of Pakistan’s ability to counter violent extremism in an effective way. Leaders of Pakistan have failed to adopt a systematic approach to empower the civil society of Pakistan. The rise of particular extremist groups in Pakistan and the avenues through which they increase their influence in our society. For the past three decades extremists have undermined moderate networks through various and different means.

Militant factions use the brutal intimidation tactics to coerce the majority population to support their movements and in much of the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, moderate religious and the political leaders are assassinated for speaking out against the Taliban.