Civil society in Pakistan, history, role and importance

“Civil society refers collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. Civil society
commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree
of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organizations such as
registered charities, development nongovernmental organizations, community groups, women's
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help
groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups”.

Government alone do not make democracy work. Private initiative is also essential , including a
vital role for those institutions which are collectively described as “Civil Society”

what is this Civil Society?

 It appears as a loose term to describe activities outside the ambit of the state machinery.
 Nearly all private-owned media, out-of-government political parties, various non-profit
social, political and economic associations of people, institutions and organisations form
civil society of a country.
 Civil society is comprised of groups or organization working in the interest of the citizen
but operating outside of the government and for profit sector.
 For philosophers like George Hegel and the revolutionary theorist Karl Marx, civil society
was an inclusive concept of 'society minus the state.
 in each culture, civil society is a reflection of the traditions, conventions and codes of
behaviour outside the legal hierarchal structure of the state.
 President Zardari, however, refers to it as political jokers

The idea of Civil Society has ancient roots in human civilization. From the initial days, human
communities required cooperative behavior for survival and progression. Civil Society often
therefore, was organized where a need for improvement occurred and as a result, people with
varied background and interests combined as a particular organization to achieve their universal
goal. Historically, people working as Civil Society have organised themselves into group for
mutual safety and self help.

During the 17th and 18th centuries in particular there has been a sudden increase in the number
of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working outside the purview of government
and an increase for the pragmatic answers to issues related to ecological deprivation, rights of
people, wellbeing, safety, gender and justice.

A modern polity constitutes of three apparatus: one, the

 Government or public sector

 Private sector
 Civil sector

if all three work according to the conventions of game, they harmonize with each other and,
thus, institute a democratic dispensation where power is not determined especially with single
element.

Distinguishing features of CSOs

• Work for public benefit

• Some level of voluntary contribution of time or money

• Institutionally separate from the State

• Non profit distributing

• Some level of voluntary contribution of time or money

• Membership is not legally required

• Institutional presence and structure

Role/functions of Civil society

Insofar as the role of civil society in governance is concerned this is important particularly for
having good governance. Without an active civil society, the prevalence and institutionalization
of good governance is not possible.

The role of civil society in good governance is to apprise people of their fundamental rights
and responsibilities. In addition, civil society is instrumental in making people aware about
the role of the government and state institutions, as well as the responsibilities of state
functionaries. Without that knowledge, most people are unaware of governance, public issues
and the administrative structures and functions.

Moreover, civil society provides the forums to the people to debate and discuss their issues
and communicate them to the rulers and administrators. Civil society also provides the
platforms to the people to maximally participate in the process of governance. The
participation of people in public affairs is a key feature of good governance. Another
characteristic of good governance is transparency. If the people are aware of their rights, thanks
to a proactive civil society, they would be informed of the exigency of transparency in the
process of governance. Furthermore, informed citizenry is a sine qua non for accountability in
the governance system and structures of the governance. Because without informed citizenry the
required public pressures on the governance system specifically on the state functionaries cannot
be exerted so as to be accountable and answerable for whatever they do in the name of public.

Civil society is also critically important for making people aware of the need and value of
the rule of law, as well as apprising government institutions and functionaries of the state about
the importance and their respective role(s) in ensuring the rule of law. Observably, state
institutions and functionaries often act, react and behave so as they are not subject to the law of
the land; many even think they are above the law.

It is a proactive civil society and under its influence an informed citizenry which constantly
remind the state institutions and the government servants and make them realise that they are
very much subject to the law of the land and all their actions are conditioned by official rules,
procedures and codes of conduct. In other words, civil society unceasingly tells the government
institutions and officials that they shall not do anything that is in violation of law or that may
infringe upon the fundamental rights of the people.

An active civil society and through it an informed citizenry play a critical role in sound,
sustainable and effective public policies. Because the forums, institutions, organisations and the
members of civil society build and increase the informational capacity of people about different
stages of public policy; how public policies are formulated, implemented, evaluated, analysed
and reformulated and how people can participate at different levels of public policymaking.
Moreover, civil society provides various and multiple forums to the people to fully participate
in the policymaking stages and make these policies people-friendly and effective.

Against this backdrop specifying correlation and interaction between civil society and the
concept of good governance some observations about Pakistan’s civil society can be made. The
Pakistan civil society is a reactive civil society. It has been a created civil society rather than it
has evolved. Although lack of good governance in Pakistan has many factors behind it, weak
civil society and a largely cosmetic civil society is one of the key causes.

BACKGROUND OF CSOs IN PAKISTAN :

In Pakistan, historically, there was a predecessor to Civil Society during pre-British era. It was
localised and made up of biradari (kinship union), panchayat (village level local selfgovernment)
and jirga (tribal assembly) comprising religious leaders, village landlords and town notables.

These arrangements articulated, expressed and mobilised public outlook. Moreover, the activities
in the area comprising modern-day Pakistan were motivated principally by religious beliefs and
political strategy. Hindu concepts, such as daana (philanthropy) and seva (service) and the
Islamic practices of zakat (offering to the deprived) and khairat (endowment) and haqooq-ul-bad
(human rights), laid the edifice for charitable activities.

Civil Society and Democratic Transition In Pakistan

civil society plays a critical role not just in supporting a transition to democracy, but also during
democratic consolidation when the shift from authoritarianism to representative government has
taken place.

Democratic movements of Pakistan in the past have applied some of these tools, but apart from
toppling two incumbents, they have not achieved any substantial gains. The military, waiting in
the wings, took over, quite opposite to the objectives of the movements. Now there is a new
movement in the making, surrounded by vastly changed social and economic circumstances in the
country. One of the key features of this new movement is civil society activism. The lawyers’
associations are important,
Pakistan’s civil society has been growing for the past two decades in various spheres of social life.
Its traditional focus has been on human rights, especially minorities and women, and on social
development in rural communities. Its fresh focus is on rule of law, representative government and
democracy as a universal social value. While activism in these areas grew appreciably, the
traditional associations, like labour unions and student groups that had played a major role in
toppling Ayub Khan and crippling Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government, declined.

The new movement for democracy, led by lawyers’ associations from all over the country, was
spurred by General Musharraf’s action against the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Civil society has
played a pivotal role in the promotion of democratic culture and tradition in Pakistan. The civil
society compelled the ruling class to enact the Objectives Resolution (1949) and the first
constitution of Pakistan (1956). Civil society compelled General Ayub Khan to resign from the
State’s power. When the sugar prices increased, the civil society could not tolerate it and came
forward in open protest and agitations. The Student’s union abuses him and demanded his
immediate resign which the latter did under the pressure of the former. Similarly, it was the civil
society which made Z.A. Bhutto a public leader. The public was so impressed from him that in
public crowds, people responded to his slogans and statements. His democratic notions had been
supported by the civil society. Likewise, the despotic government of General Zia-ul-Haq was
pressurized by the political forces of the civil society. A political alliance of the political parties
was made so that to apply a common pressure on the dictatorial rule of Zia. No doubt, that his
ruling came to an end due to his killing in air crash but it is also fact that political forces gave him
a tough time during his despotic rule. In the same way, the role of the civil society during
Musharraf period is more evident. It was the civil society that compelled Musharraf to resign from
his office. When General Pervaiz Musharraf elected himself as a President of Pakistan through so-
called referendum, the civil society criticized him greatly. Similarly, when Musharraf ousted
judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the civil society more particularly the lawyer’s
association started a movement for the restoration of the deposed judges of the Supreme Court.
Finally the lawyers were succeeded in restoring the deposed judges to their original position. This
lawyer movement brought an independent judiciary in Pakistan which is the pre-requisite of a true
democracy.
The reaction of civil society to the 2005 earthquake and translocation of people from Swat was
outstanding. The entire country and civic organisations swarmed to the troubled areas with
whatever assistance they could bring. During all suicide bombings and shootouts, volunteers and
ambulances of the civil society out number the official rescue efforts. Pakistani civil society is still
alive and vibrant. civil society needs to galvanise and throw up new leadership capable of exerting
relentless pressure on the government and political parties.