Mowahid Hussain Shah is an attorney-at-law, author, and policy analyst. His articles are published regularly in English in Nawa-i-Waqt. For over a decade, he has been the lead columnist for Pakistan Link, the most subscribed weekly throughout North America for the U.S. Pakistani community. For over 30 years, Mowahid Shah has studied the interplay between religion and politics. In 1979, he was one of few authors at the time who examined the repercussions of the trial and execution of Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and predicted its ensuing implications, including increasing politicisation of Islam in Pakistan; that "using Islamization of law to legitimize their continued power, the army may in the long term govern with a civilian façade", and that persecution of the Bhutto family would continue with consequent enlargement of the Bhutto myth. 30 years ago, he cautioned that there would be civil rights implications for the Arab-Muslim community in the US because of escalating global tensions. In 1992, at The Harvard Forum, he urged military intervention in Bosnia to stop Serbian aggression, concerned that if Serbia's aggression were allowed to stand, there would be repercussions that would "envelope Europe and envelop the Muslim world, and even vital American interests." His prescient article in the Christian Science Monitor correctly predicted the onset of Western-Muslim world tensions well before Harvard professor Samuel P. Huntington popularised the theory of a "clash of civilizations". He opposed the Gulf War, warning of long-term repercussions of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, predicting that "Operation Desert Storm may become a desert trap" that "would radicalize the region for generations." He continues to maintain that leaving the Palestinian issue unattended is "at the center of fueling radicalism."
Career
Mowahid Shah is a former law partner of US Senator James Abourezk. In 1980, Senator Abourezk envisioned and founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. ADC's founding director was Dr. James Zogby. Mowahid Shah played a small role in facilitating the launch of the civil rights organisation. He and Dr. Zogby wrote ADC's first publication, "The Other Anti-Semitism" and worked together in researching and analysing similarities between 19th century anti-Jewish cartoons and modern cartoons offensive to Arabs and Muslims. Mowahid Shah is an original co-founder of Pakistan's second largest political party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, which was launched at Lahore on 25 April 1996. From 2003–2007, Mowahid Shah served as Minister and Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister, Pakistan. He played a major role in the creation of Punjab's first comprehensive consumer protection law. He proposed a 5-point initiative aimed at ensuring that the disabled be treated with dignity, In 2004, he organised the first ever conference at the Chief Minister's Office focused on respecting and enhancing teachers' dignity and status. His book, "Will & Skill", which explores West-Muslim tensions in the aftermath of 9/11 and proposes a way forward, was launched in May 2012.
