US awakening needed after Arab spring: Mowahid

The West must reassess the status quo in the Middle East with respect to popular aspirations of the people, as existing uprisings show that the elite in the region are losing control, Mowahid Hussain Shah, attorney-at-law and noted expert on the region, said at a forum held on Capitol Hill, the seat of the US Congress.“Justice and truth are with the protesters and the untenable status quo - with power concentrated in the hands of the ruling
elites - is not sustainable,” he maintained, at a colloquium on the Arab Spring and Bahrain.
The United States, he argued, needs an awakening to ground realities in the Middle East and has to,accordingly, reflect broader consistency in its policies, including also the plight of the Palestinian people.
Mowahid Shah particularly underlined that Washington can no longer afford bypassing issues of dignity and equality, which are driving the existing unrest in the region and elsewhere.
The packed event, which attracted congressional staffers, think-tank experts, academia, and community activists, was co-hosted by Dr. Pervez Shah, a known urologist and Secretary General of the Universal Muslim Association of America.
In this connection, Mowahid urged US leaders to adhere to their own policy statements by focusing on the next generation, instead of the next election, and by recognising that what was acceptable yesterday is no longer acceptable today.(APP)