Editorial-July 11, 2014
The government has drawn heavy flak for a host of restrictions imposed on the NGO sector. The UNP has condemned them as part of a sinister campaign to stifle democracy. The US has also frowned on them. NGO activists have let out a howl of protest and even vowed to resist the government move.
NGOs are multiplying like rabbits in this country. Everyone seems to want to form an NGO, prepare some project reports, obtain funds from foreign governments and live in clover while seeing the world at the expense of the taxpayers in the developed countries. NGO bosses draw as much as corporate fat cats or even more, monthly. Some of them flee the country when their corrupt deals get exposed. The public perception of NGOs, especially INGOs (International Non Government Organisations) is not favourable perhaps due to adverse publicity they have received all these years.
But, one should not make the mistake of lumping all NGOs together and tarring them with the same brush. There are good and bad ones.
The fact that there are some NGOs which want to run parallel governments in the developing countries at the behest of their foreign masters who seek to further their geo-strategic interests through such well-funded outfits cannot be used to justify collective punishment. NGOs need to be regulated, but regulation should not mean harassment or suppression.
States cannot look after all needs of their citizens. Hence the emergence of NGOs or community based organisations in the democratic world. There is also a pressing need for some robust outfits to help people champion democracy and human rights because politicians’ dictatorial tendencies get the better of them if they are allowed to run governments according to their whims and fancies. However, these organisations are no substitutes for democratic Opposition parties as they are without popular mandates to play that role. Problems do occur when NGOs overstep their limits and advance hidden agendas, especially in conflict situations as we saw during the war years here. There were some NGOs which helped further the LTTE’s interest on the pretext of doing social work and protecting human rights. Some of them even raised funds for the LTTE.
This country is called a democratic, socialist republic. So, NGO activists, too, should be able to enjoy the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and other democratic rights if they have not been found to be on the wrong side of the law. They must be able to communicate with the media without let or hindrance unless it could be proved without a reasonable doubt that they pose a threat to national security or their operations are detrimental to the country’s interests in some other way. If there is irrefutable evidence that they do so, they must be dealt with according to the law and nobody will fault the government for doing that. But, no NGOs must be harassed because they have become irritants to the powers that be or are promoting democratic dissent. NGOs cannot be expected to be pliable tools in the hands of the rulers.
Trying to curb the freedom of expression in this technologically driven world dominated by the electronic grapevine aka social media is, on the other hand, an exercise in futility just like, as a local saying goes, ‘blocking the wind with a net’. Information flows rapidly across the globe whether one likes it or not as could be seen from the predicament of the US vis-à-vis Wikileaks revelations and former NSA operative Snowden’s disclosure of classified Pentagon info.
NGOs are not above the law and their operations must be legal and transparent. They, we repeat, may be monitored, regulated, and even dealt with if they are at fault. But, let there be no witch hunt.
