A few days ago, as a local non-government organisation (NGO) was holding a meeting on the issue of child marriages in a local hotel in Bahawalpur, officials of an intelligence agency barged in, and asked the organisation to show a no objection certificate (NOC) from the district administration.

The organisation tried to get in touch with the District Coordination Officer (DCO) but failed, and had to end the meeting.

Following the intelligence agency’s intervention, the NGO temporarily suspended its operation even from its office in Islamabad. The NGO has been doing projects in partnership with some international partners and International Non Government Organisations (INGOs) too.

Such interventions of intelligence networks are a routine with fresh policy guidelines which includes a rule to acquire an NOC from all levels -- federal to local -- where a scrutiny committee comprising representatives of different government organisations and intelligence agencies give clearance for any function. Such procedural steps add to the NGOs’ frustrations when the officials are unavailable to give a go-ahead for a meeting.

The NGOs started facing the fury of the state after reports of involvement of a CIA official in the vaccination campaign of Save the Children Pakistan. The purpose was to trace the world’s most wanted person, Osama Bin Laden, who was eventually killed by the US submarines in a midnight operation in Abbottabad. More recently, Save the Children was told to suspend its operation in the country.

Following the imposition of the National Action Plan (NAP) in December 2014, the government pressure on INGOs and NGOs has increased. There was an announcement to cancel the registration of all INGOs in Pakistan. They were asked to come up with a revised policy and memorandum of understating (MoU), with the interior ministry having the lead role. This was followed by a tough scrutiny of the nature of work and staff.

Separately, the local NGOs were also put under scrutiny. According to reports, in Punjab, registration of more than 3,000 NGOs was cancelled.

"Pakistan has international commitments. Development works by INGOs is at stake in Pakistan for the past several months. The government is dealing with them in a high-handed manner," says Safdar Raza, an Islamabad-based civil society activist who is associated with an INGO. "We condemn any wrongdoing in any INGO or NGO but that does not mean that every development project should face an axe by the state without any reason. Intelligence agencies are hard on social activists. NGO workers are being disgraced and humiliated by the government as if they are ‘criminals’ and ‘enemies’."

He adds, "There are unnecessary delays in clearances -- because of which grants lapse and projects come to a halt, forcing INGOs and international groups to divert the funds to other countries."

Many activists are of the view that following the NAP, intelligence agencies have been given a major role in a sector that already had transparency. Most civil society activists hold that the officials of Interior Ministry and intelligence agencies have no clue of the value and importance of the development work, and don’t have a professional approach to deal with the matter.

According to the Interior Ministry statistics, 130 INGO applied for registration under the new policy introduced in October 2015. So far 37 INGOs have been cleared and are able to sign the revised MoU. Out of these 37 re-registered INGOs, most are working on health, civic issues and philanthropy.

The INGOs working on political and social issues are awaiting a nod from the state for almost a year now. And, the officials of the Interior Ministry remain reluctant to talk about the issue.

"I do understand that Pakistan needs to take strict measures to ensure its security. But, it should be in a good way," says a country head of an INGO, adding, "There are difficulties in visa extensions and unnecessary delays in completing deadlines."

She says, "There are people without visa for almost a year now. They applied for renewal of visa weeks ago and are still waiting to hear from the relevant authorities."

There are some German social activists who have been working in Pakistan on health and political issues since years but now they are being treated as suspects. On the other side, there are challenges for local partners too.

"We have never faced such a situation before. It is difficult to understand what is going on? We don’t understand why a person who served this country with dedication in social welfare and health sector for 16 years is deprived of visa all of a sudden. The visa procedure should be carried out in a professional way. Maybe it is professional for the Pakistan government but for us it is complicated. Many people think it is making things more difficult. The officials are not friendly even with foreigners and not treating them in a good way," maintains one INGO representative.

Another representative of an INGO says, "It is hard to explain to our bosses why we are not doing our job properly for the past one year. When we tell them about the situation, they say if Pakistan does not want us here the government should tell us. And, believe me, not granting visa is a clear message. It is difficult to understand why they are treating all INGOs and NGOs in the same manner."

According to the Policy for Regulation of INGOS in Pakistan, introduced in 2015, INGOs receiving foreign funds, materials and services or utilising foreign economic assistance will require prior registration exclusively with the Interior Ministry. Earlier, this was done by the Ministry of Social Welfare or through diplomatic MoUs.

The new rules also state, "Security clearance shall be obtained by Pakistan Missions abroad before issuing initial visa to the foreign nationals intending to work for INGOs. Hiring of foreign nationals by the INGOs in their management and staff shall be subject to prior clearance of Ministry of Interior. Maximum duration of visas for non-Pakistani nationals working for the INGOs will be one year. And the INGO will have to employ foreign nationals against not more than 10 per cent of the total staff positions, and give preference to Pakistani nationals for key positions."

One of the new rules also states, "there shall be no activity until respective provincial governments and concerned local governments/district authorities are informed regarding the NGOs’ programmes/projects in their areas and their approval/permission/NOC for carrying out permissible activities is obtained."

"What will INGOs working on political awareness and strengthening of democracy do if they are not allowed to conduct a political programme according to the MoU?" asks the foreign representative of an INGO. "Perhaps, this is a message that Pakistan does not want any international cooperation."

"Unnecessary hurdles will reduce international focus on development. It seems space is shrinking for INGOs and NGOs systematically with a particular mindset," says activist Raza. He urges the government to come with a quick, fair and straight policy. The state or government should not intimidate thousands of NGO workers in Pakistan and disgrace them as if they are ‘enemies’ of the country. "The government should handle the issue in a better and decent way."