From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/7/2006 1:51 AM
language=JavaScript> </SCRIPT> Friday, April 7th, 2006
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.
http://pakistanlink.com/Community/2006/Apr06/07/12.HTM
