West Must Rectify Its
Own Policies: Mowahid
Washington,
DC: Western policies, coupled with the contributory factor
of ineptness of Muslim governing elites to counter-balance
the same, is causing rising global tensions. This was stated
by Mowahid Hussain Shah, Minister and Special Advisor to
Chief Minister, Punjab, and Pakistan Link columnist during
a live half-an-hour TV interview with Arab-American leader,
Dr. James Zogby, in Washington, on the widely watched and
award-winning “Viewpoint” program which reaches
a global audience of over 30 million households with callers
telephoning in from all over the world.
Mowahid said that the occupation of Muslim lands in Iraq,
Palestine, Kashmir, and Chechnya have destabilized the world
order and unleashed anti-Muslim xenophobia. Mowahid said
that it is odd that despite all the rhetoric on democracy,
the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world remain voiceless and
un-represented, without having a veto power in the UN Security
Council.
Mowahid reminded his listeners that the forces which are
spearheading disinformation and discrimination against Muslims
in Europe would not now dare utter negativity against the
Jews who, over 60 years ago, were nearly wiped out in Europe.
“This is a warning for Muslims not to remain weak.”
Mowahid held the European media and politicians responsible
for the cartoon controversy, first for having intentionally
initiated it by publishing the blasphemous caricatures;
second, for not having collectively apologized for it; and
third, for having escalated the crisis by simultaneously
reprinting them all over Western Europe. “It shows
that Europe is not serious about interfaith harmony.”
Answering a question on the US-India nuclear deal, Mowahid
said it erodes America’s own moral authority, its
own national interests, and violates existing US laws which
clearly forbid the giving of nuclear aid to a country such
as India which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty.
Mowahid commented that the policy of over-reliance on force
to tackle disputes has resulted in making the global environment
more unsafe, more violent, and more radical. “In America
itself, support for such policies has severely plummeted.”
When a caller asked whether Pakistan should do more on Afghanistan,
Mowahid replied that such expectations of Pakistan are unreasonable
and unrealistic when the US and NATO forces are themselves
having a hard time pacifying Afghanistan, despite all their
combined military might.
Mowahid concluded that peace is a must, but for peace to
prevail, it has to be just.
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