ON Thursday, women protested bravely in Peshawar against the discriminatory remarks made by a cleric — and former MNA — from Kohistan in a Friday sermon. They were taking a stand in the face of threats issued by Maulvi Abdul Haleem, who declared that women working for NGOs would forcibly be married to local men if they tried to enter Kohistan. This was in keeping with his other obscurantist views, according to which girls should not be educated, women should not work unless accompanied by mahrams and ‘honour’ killing is a religiously-sanctioned practice. The common thread running through all of this is a fear of women’s empowerment: if female NGO workers inform Kohistani women of their rights, the latter might start questioning the restrictions under which they are made to live.

The sermon was part of a worrying trend in Pakistan in which NGOs are increasingly under pressure from a variety of sources. Since Dr Shakil Afridi’s involvement in the Osama bin Laden affair surfaced, western NGOs too have come under suspicion by the state, with employees being denied visas, supplies being held up, and organisations being monitored and even being asked to stop working in certain areas. Because vaccination was used as a front, the polio campaign is now reportedly facing suspicion from the communities it tries to serve. The security situation in Balochistan and Fata prevents non-profit work there. Take, for example, the killing of a second worker of the Balochistan Rural Support Programme after six were kidnapped in the province, or reports this week of threatening letters issued against NGO workers by South Waziristan militants. Maulvi Haleem’s sermon is a reminder that gender, too, is a barrier for NGO workers in parts of Pakistan. In a country where the government provides limited social services, this trend will only make life more difficult for Pakistan’s disadvantaged and marginalised communities.