Daily Archives: September 8, 2021

Police and Government agencies in the UK have adopted similar tactics to social media influencers and used targeted advertising to tackle crime, a recent report has found.

The study, published by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), showed that the National Crime Agency had carried out a six-month influence operation to tackle cybercrime involving surveillance, direct intervention and targeted online advertising messaging.

Researchers also found a Government Communication Service training podcast which claimed that the Home Office used the purchasing data of people who had recently bought candles to target them through their smart speakers with fire safety adverts.

The study shows these online influence tactics, being used on both a local and national level, are also being used to influence the public on health and social policy.

Dr Ben Collier of the University of Edinburgh, one of the papers co-authors and researchers, said while this approach could help crime prevention, there remains concern over potential negative consequences such as further stigmatising groups who already face structural oppression through targeting and surveillance, causing potentially serious anxiety or harm.

He said: In some cases these practices could potentially have the opposite effect from that intended, with the targeting serving to spread the very unwanted narratives and behaviours they are aiming to counter.

Dr Collier added: We found examples of well thought-out and effective campaigns, some of which were developed directly with the communities they were speaking to, but some of the campaigns appear much more invasive and worrying.

The Home Offices go-home vans and anti-knife crime advertising on boxes of fried chicken were called to the publics attention because they appeared in public spaces.

But when this happens in peoples living rooms and on their mobile phones through targeted ads, it is potentially much harder for those responsible to be held accountable.

Dr Daniel Thomas, of the University of Strathclyde, who also co-authored the report, said the influence government practices require more scrutiny.

He said: These advanced marketing approaches are more than just communications and go far beyond media management. Our research suggests that they are front-line policy interventions and need to be seen as such, and subjected to the same public debate, scrutiny and accountability as other such policies.

Dr Thomas added: There is also a need for legal and ethical questions to be answered around the selection of particular groups and characteristics, the use of operational data to inform these campaigns, privacy and data rights concerns, and the algorithmic aspects of the targeting itself and the data which this generates and relies on.

Although our research and the briefing paper focuses on UK law enforcement agencies and Government departments, we have recently acquired funding to study these issues further in a Scottish context.

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Police and Government are using social media influencer tactics, study says - centralfifetimes.com

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) The decades-long Chinese oppression of Tibetans should serve as a warning to Taiwanese, Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, representative of the Tibetan government-in-exile to Taiwan, said Thursday during a book launch event at the Legislative Yuan.

Over the years, intellectuals from Tibet have either been forced into exile or faced brutal crackdowns in their homeland by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and their suffering continues to the present day, the representative said.

What came after the signing of a peace treaty between the Dalai Lama's government and CCP in Beijing in 1951 was "seven decades of blood and tears shed by Tibetans," Kelsang said.

He was referring to the Seventeen Point Agreement that affirmed China's sovereignty over Tibet but promised Tibetans a high degree of autonomy. However, following an uprising by Tibetans in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, in 1959, the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he formed a Tibetan government-in-exile.

Tibet's experience should serve as a warning to Taiwanese that the country's freedom and democracy is in their hands, he added.

The Tibetan representative assumed his post in January as the chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the representative office of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Taiwan.

He was joined by several Taiwanese lawmakers Thursday at a launch event for a book about the peace treaty that was published under the sponsorship of his foundation.

While supporting Tibetans who have faced oppression, Taiwanese should cherish freedom of expression and fight for democracy, said independent Legislator Freddy Lim (), who also heads the Taiwan Parliament Group for Tibet.

Fan Yun (), a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said Taiwanese should be wary of the threat from China because Beijing has stepped up military exercises near Taiwan.

However, Fan went on to say, people in Taiwan should also keep faith in important values that the country shares with the international community, including freedom, democracy and human rights.

Another DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han () said China has shown what it would do after a peace treaty is signed.

What happened in Tibet should be a wake-up call for Taiwanese when they think about the future of the island, Hung added.

(By Fan Cheng-hsiang and Teng Pei-ju)

Enditem/AW

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Oppressed Tibetans are warning to Taiwan: Tibetan representative - Focus Taiwan News Channel

The movement has the potential to build a stronger GOP as once-uninvolved conservative candidates flood local government and party races, seeking a platform to fight critical race theory, student mask requirements and other culture war issues centered on kids. While such elections are often nonpartisan, the Republican Party sees a rich opportunity to build a pipeline of new political candidates.

"The interest, the enthusiasm, is extraordinary, said Pam Kirby, who runs "school board boot camps for the Arizona GOP.

Even though most Arizona school board races are not for at least a year, shes already started offering a new round of her classes because of demand. More than 200 people have completed the program, and 80 more are on the waitlist. Conservatives from Oregon, Texas, New York, Indiana and other states have asked her to run similar programs for them, she said.

About 25 percent of people from the classes actually go on to run, while others will instead join their local GOP operations, often as precinct committee members. Kirby estimates more than 1,500 committee members have been appointed in Maricopa County since February.

"It's unheard of, Kirby said. It's off the charts.

Ben Frazier, the founder of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville chants "Allow teachers to teach the truth" at the end of his public comments opposing the state of Florida's plans to ban the teaching of critical race theory in public schools during the Department of Education in Jacksonville, Fla. | Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

Critical race theory is a framework for analysis developed by legal scholars in the 1980s that examines how race and racism have been ingrained in American law and institutions since slavery and Jim Crow. The study is essentially nonexistent in K-12 schools, but this year, the term has been used to describe diversity trainings and a cadre of classroom lessons on slavery, sexism and other acts of discrimination.

Many conservative candidates stand against critical race theory, but also concede that the graduate-level legal framework isn't being taught in K-12 schools. Still, the concern that similar philosophies are influencing public schools is widespread, and candidates use opposition to critical race theory to signal their animus to curriculum that further focuses on racism or oppression.

In Ohio, where most school board seats are up in November, conservative parents are organizing candidates to run in school district races across the state. In Texas, several newly elected school board members ran on platforms advocating for less talk about racism and oppression, both historic and recent. Virginia, Arizona, Indiana, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, Florida, California and Wisconsin are starting to see campaign organizing among conservative parents.

"We have had a very big upswing of individuals calling us, saying, 'How do I run?'" said Terry Dittrich, the GOP chairman in Waukesha County, Wis., who has worked in state politics for more than 20 years. "These are really truly organic organizations that have popped up from moms and dads."

Dittrich and his colleagues have watched these races to scout potential candidates for local and state office, and the conservative zeitgeist around critical race theory has triggered a boom time.

"I don't know that I've ever seen anything like this," he said in an interview.

Parents in many places have organized Facebook groups calling for schools to expunge specific diversity-oriented curricula or any elected official backing it. Some of those groups have spawned new candidates sometimes long before a race. In Arizonas Chandler Unified School District, for example, at least 12 people have already shown interest in entering races still 15 months away.

Others have organized on social media to coordinate protests or raised huge sums of money to launch recall elections against school board incumbents. All of them are looking for the same result: a cleaner version of U.S. history that puts racism firmly in the past.

In this May 25, 2021, photo, a man holds up a sign against Critical Race Theory during a protest in Reno, Nev. | Andy Barron/Reno Gazette-Journal via AP

The notion that critical race theory is being taught in schools is almost always false, said Chip Slaven, the National School Boards Association's interim executive director & CEO. Even in districts where education officials have made clear the theory isnt part of the curriculum, conservative parents and politicians have continued to protest or campaign against it.

"It goes back to: What can we make stick on the wall? Ah, it must be critical race theory," Slaven said.

While some school board members have been energized by the challenges of the pandemic and battles over curriculum, many are burned out and some are leaving their positions, Slaven said. These moves could open up opportunities for those running primarily to stop race-related curricula to win seats.

Historically, school boards have been largely nonpartisan. But as interest in the races spiked this year, some candidates began to sound more like Fox News commentators than school board members of the past.

Some candidates are already seeing energized support when railing against critical race theory, even when officials deny its existence in local schools. Slaven worries that some candidates may have little experience in education and few ideas on how to successfully lead a school system, instead taking a single-minded approach focusing on Covid-19 restrictions and how the history of racism is taught.

"If you're only running on one issue, you're doing a disservice, he said.

At the start of a new school year already polarized over mask-wearing, school leaders are sparring with parents over race- and ethnicity-focused lessons, with activists threatening to take their jobs. The pandemic and the debate about race are blurring together. Some conservative parents already frustrated by mask mandates have joined the fight against how systemic racism is taught because of the lessons they heard during remote learning. The issues are increasingly intertwined, creating a furor thats turned mundane school board meetings into volatile affairs.

In many districts, members of Facebook groups that formed to advocate for opening schools are now advocating for changes in curriculum and a change in leadership to accomplish both.

School board members are now on the front lines of two culture wars.

The Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group known for encouraging political violence, showed up twice to school board meetings in Nashua, N.H. to object to how racism is discussed in schools. The Nashua School Board like others across the country now has police attending meetings as threats of violence intensify.

In Williamson County, Tenn., where the fight over critical race theory had been brewing for months, anti-masked protesters followed masked attendees of a school board meeting last week to their cars, shouting "we will find you."

"I certainly anticipated heated disagreement on issues coming before me as a board member, I did not anticipate getting Facebook messages telling me to kill myself," Kimberly Cavill, a school board member in Illinois, wrote in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. "I did not anticipate emails littered with curse words and hateful slurs. I did not anticipate people posting satellite images of my home on social media alongside dangerous, evidence-free accusations too disgusting to summarize."

Some school board members are ending their terms early, citing the threats of violence and newfound difficulty of approving curriculum and implementing health and safety policies.

Others see it as a reason to continue fighting for a seat.

"I had intended to not run for reelection, but darn it, if it means keeping a three-vote majority of people on that board with any sanity, I might run again," said Eileen Robinson, a school board member in Californias Chico Unified School District who will soon turn 75.

Robinson is one of four people on her school board facing recall efforts from conservative parents. She said in an interview the issues activists rally around over the past year whether masks, remote learning or curriculum about racism in America have shifted in recent months and weeks, but the chaos that has come with it has not.

"I have never, never seen what we've been through in the last 18 months politically, not the pandemic," she said. "The depth of the misinformation that people have consumed and believed is frightening."

The patchwork nature of local government also gives Republicans opportunities to test drive their rhetoric on the issue before fully deploying it in their efforts to retake the House in next years midterm elections.

Most Americans have no opinion about critical race theory, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll but most Republicans do, and 42 percent see it very unfavorably. A quarter of independents felt the same way, while only 5 percent of Democrats shared that viewpoint. Some Republicans hope denouncing race-focused curricula and promoting Donald Trumps vision for a patriotic education will remain key wedge issues that foster new interest in the GOP.

Democrat have mostly avoided addressing critical race theory in in a significant away, aside from a Senate vote opposing the efforts to ban the teachings. One effort to do so backfired when Bidens Education Department walked back a plan to incentivize teaching about systemic racism, bowing to Republican pressure.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has repeatedly emphasized local control over curriculum, sometimes making general assertions that students should learn parts of American history were not proud of alongside the progress that has been made. And many Democrats in the states fearful of dividing their suburban coalitions have taken the approach of Terry McAuliffe, the former Virginia governor whos running for another term: dismiss furor against critical race theory as another right-wing conspiracy and pivot to talk about school infrastructure and teacher pay.

"Democrats are, rightfully, focused on real things that have an actual impact on people's lives like lowering the cost of living or raising wages, said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist. Republicans seem to think they've found a new wedge issue to divide us, but, in reality, the GOP is on dangerous ground when voters see they're trying to censor what's taught in schools and putting politicians in charge of classrooms.

Still, the conservative push against critical race theory is upending local politics in town after town. Between race-based study and pandemic policies, 2021 has seen more recalls of school board members than any year on record, according to tracking from Ballotpedia. More than twice as many officials have been the target of those efforts so far this year compared to all of last year.

Some parents see the fight against critical race theory as the most important political issue at the moment. They say they will keep running for office, collecting signatures for recalls and raising money for campaigns until they win.

In some places, running against critical race theory is already paying off. In one Houston-area school board race, every candidate who opposed critical race theory in schools won a seat in May. Two such candidates won with over 70 percent of the vote in another Texas race.

In Arizonas Maricopa County, parents are rallying to recall two school board members in the Peoria Unified School District. The concern started with mask and quarantine policies in the district, but critical race theory and other curricula issues like sex education and social emotional learning have become even bigger points of debate, said Wendy Van Wie, who applied for the recall petitions.

Two people are ready to run to fill the vacancies in Maricopa County, should the recall there succeed. Van Wie, who is not interested in running, said she voted in the past but was otherwise relatively inactive in politics before pushing for a recall. The more she looked, though, the less she trusted the education system and government as a whole, she said.

"I cant just sit back and be a keyboard warrior, she said.

A teacher, center, and her third grade students wear face masks and are seated at proper social distancing spacing during as she conducts her class in Rye, N.Y. | (Mary Altaffer, File/AP Photo)

In other districts, local party organizations are getting involved in the fight. The Tustin Democratic Club in Tustin, Calif., called on members to promote inclusive curriculum at a board meeting in May after a Facebook group of conservative parents planned to oppose it. Parents obtained emails from school administrators in which a board member suggested the elective ethnic studies curriculum is aligned with critical race theory and the superintendent supported a White Savior Assignment for the course. The emails and opposition to critical race theory led to an outcry for new leadership.

Then theres Ohio. This spring, the conservative education group EmpowerU Ohio created a website StopCriticalRaceTheory.com and launched a petition opposing critical race theory. The group collected more than 2,000 signatures and pledges of support with the help of 34 other conservative groups, from the Ohio Republican PAC to Bikers for Trump.

Then EmpowerU held an event on critical race theory in May, attracting 350 attendees a record in the organization's 11-year history, said Dan Regenold, the groups leader.

And this summer, it hosted a political training session offering detailed instructions about filing, fundraising and campaigning for school boards in Ohio. Speakers presented a "Contract With The District," an homage to Newt Gingrichs Contract with America, in the form of a 10-point document candidates running in nonpartisan local school board races can use to signal their opposition to critical race theory.

National Republican candidates and politicians in Ohio are noticing voters' energy behind the issue, too. Candidates running to be senators, representatives and governors are also calling for a change in curriculum.

"Many [school board candidates] are first-time candidates and [critical race theory] is the number one issue that has pulled them into the fray, said Jonah Schulz, a Republican who is running for Congress in Ohio.

And for voters, Schulz said, "when it comes to their kids, that's when people really feel the urge and the need to get involved."

The grassroots power that comes from invoking children in the debate over race and other issues has been obvious from record-breaking involvement in local elections and party organizations to rage-filled school board meetings and even threats of violence. It doesnt look like thats going to end soon.

Loudoun County in Virginia saw furious protests lead to new organizations calling for the replacement of sitting board members. The organization, Fight For Schools, says it is nonpartisan and is not aimed at changing any single policy, though critical race theory and Covid-19 have been at the center of the conversations about recalling six of the nine board members. The organization has raised over $130,000, hosts events with the likes of Ben Carson and sells its own line of merchandise, which at one point included t-shirts with the faces of board members up for recall.

Not all of the local movements get so much traction. In Oregon, four conservative parents ran together for their school board, trying to win the majority in an effort to end critical race theory teachings which the district said is not in its curriculum and Covid-19 precautions. They lost the election, but some parents have said winning isnt the only goal. Its really about flexing a newfound political muscle.

I 100 percent believe this has sent a message, said Van Wie, a leader in Maricopa Countys uphill recall effort. "At the end of the day, when you mess with a momma bear and her kid, we are a force to be reckoned with."

Bianca Quilantan contributed to this report.

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Fears of critical race theory unleash army of school board candidates - POLITICO

Dealing with a global crisis like Afghanistan allows China to tell the world that it has the political ambition to work with the Taliban and also tame the Taliban to its terms.

Taliban has found a new friend in need. Only time will tell whether it is a friend indeed.

In a recent press conference, Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said, China is our most important partner. He further stated that the Taliban support Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative that seeks to link China with Africa, Asia and Europe through an enormous network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks. Mujahid said, China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us because it is ready to invest and rebuild our country.

Interestingly, the Taliban spokesperson also elucidated that it is looking at China to rebuild Afghanistan and exploit its rich copper deposits. There are rich copper mines in the country, thanks to the Chinese, can be put into operation and modernized. In addition, China is our pass to markets all over the world.

Even as early as July, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen noted, We care about the oppression of Muslims, be it in Palestine, in Myanmar, or in China, and we care about the oppression of non-Muslims anywhere in the world. But what we are not going to do is interfere in Chinas internal affairs. During their first-ever press conference on 16 August after seizing power, the Taliban spokesperson said, We want to reassure that Afghanistan will not be used against anybody.

China too has been warming up to the Taliban, stating that China respects Afghanistans sovereignty and will not interfere and follow the friendship with entire Afghan people; Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that facts show that in realising economic development we need an open inclusive political structure, implementation of moderate foreign and domestic policies and clean break from terrorist groups in all forms.

On 16 August, one day after Kabul fell, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Hua Chunying was asked about potential recognition. She said, We hope the Afghan Taliban can form solidarity with all factions and ethnic groups in Afghanistan and build a broad-based and inclusive political structure.

On the same day, Chinese United Nations envoy Geng Shuang echoed the statement but also noted, Afghanistan must never again become a haven for terrorists. We hope that the Taliban in Afghanistan will earnestly deliver on their commitments and make a clean break with the terrorist organizations.

Two days later, on August 18, there came the strongest hint yet at official recognition of the Taliban by China. It is a customary international practice that the recognition of a government comes after its formation, MFA spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. Most recently, on 25 August, an MFA spokesperson, when asked about a reported meeting the previous day between the Taliban representatives and the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, said Beijing stands ready to continue to develop good-neighbourliness, friendship, and cooperation with Afghanistan and play a constructive role in Afghanistans peace and reconstruction.

According to Centre of Foreign Relations in the article by CFR expert, Ian Johnson, it stated, The relationship with the Taliban will be twofold. First, it will be mercantilistic. China will seek to revive business ventures inside Afghanistan, which the Taliban is likely to support because investment will provide badly needed revenues. The Afghan economy is fragile and highly dependent on Western donors foreign aid, which will almost certainly be cut off. So any sort of investment, especially if it is not accompanied by lectures on human rights, will be welcome.

Second, the relationship will depend on each side not interfering in the others internal affairs. For Beijing, that means the Taliban cannot export extremism into Chinas troubled Xinjiang region, which shares a tiny border with Afghanistan, or condemn the Chinese governments abuses against Uyghur Muslims in that region. For the Taliban, it means China will not question the groups human rights abuses unless Chinese citizens are involved.

Derek Grossman, a senior defence analyst at the RAND Corporation in his article on China and the Taliban stated: This new transportation infrastructure, including planned thoroughfares through the narrow Wakhan Corridor that links the two countries, would significantly enhance Beijings ability to access Afghanistans natural resources. According to a 2014 report, Afghanistan may possess nearly $1 trillion worth of extractable rare-earth metals locked within its mountains.

Beijing further has its eye on projects that languished under the previous Afghan government due to a combination of obstacles including archaeological discoveries, security issues, and social impact. Under the Taliban, the future of these projects may be brighter. For example, in 2016, the Taliban offered protection for Chinese workers at the Mes Aynak Copper Mine near Kabul. If Afghanistans new masters are so inclined, Beijing may finally get long-sought-after benefits from a major oil project in northern Afghanistans Amu Darya basin.

Developments since the fall of Kabul strongly suggest China and the Taliban have started off on the right foot. This week, the Taliban spokesperson confirmed the two sides are actively discussing their bilateral relationship, including Chinese humanitarian assistance.

China, has positioned itself as a new great power in competition with the United States, and it will want to demonstrate its way of handling world crisis.

Perhaps most importantly, recognizing Taliban-run Afghanistan would contribute to the perception that it is Beijingand no longer Washingtonthat is now setting the agenda and shaping the future regional order according to Derek Grossman in his analysis on China and the Taliban relationship.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the pathetic manner in which the United States handled the Afghan crisis give China a point to rub into the US government, that when push comes to shove, the United States is unreliable and that it fails to walk the talk when it matters most.

China, recognizing the Taliban makes for strange optics: fighting Islamists at home but embracing them abroad. But it shows that China could be the ultimate politics playing nation.

As, Derek Grossman expressed, its still the early days under Taliban rule, so China is understandably cautious. Beijing is concerned the Taliban may reengage in illegal narcotics trafficking to fund their government and return to supporting terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan. Beijing worries the Talibans spectacular success might embolden alleged members of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, which Chinese authorities have controversially designated as a separatist and terrorist threat in the northwestern Xinjiang province. To date, China has predominantly relied on its ironclad brother Pakistan to do the heavy lifting to prevent fighters from entering Xinjiang or otherwise supporting the outlawed group.

China and the Taliban make strange bedfellows according to most defence analysts, but I do not see it as strange bedfellows. It is merely a relationship of bare necessities.

China wants to establish itself as a global power centre. Dealing with a global crisis like Afghanistan allows for China to tell the world that it has the political ambition to work with the Taliban and also tame the Taliban to its terms. China will play the friend of the Taliban till such time Taliban and its government benefits China. Having Pakistan on its one-side and Afghanistan on the other, with the Taliban gives it a strong and indisputable leverage not only in the region but the world but most all over India.

With the United States being an eagle with its wings clipped by the Taliban, the dragon will roar in Afghanistan while it will let the hyenas enjoy their prey.

Savio Rodrigues is the founder and editor-in-chief of Goa Chronicle.

Original post:

The Taliban get a Chinese friend - The Sunday Guardian Live - The Sunday Guardian

Afghan women are not just victims of conflict but also of rhetoric.Ruhi Khan, ESRC Researcher at LSEs Media & Communication department, argues that we need to break away from binary viewpoints on Afghanistan, probe deeper into coloniality and the history of feminism in the global south and include it into the larger geo-political feminist epistemology.

A young woman just 27 years old was beaten to death in the centre of Kabul by a mob. Her crime? She called out a religious vendor (mullah) selling holy verses on paper which he promised were powerful spells promising the hearts desires. The mullah was agitated that a woman had challenged him and falsely accused her of desecrating the Holy Quran. Soon a mob joined the chorus and started pelting her with stones and sticks, kicking her and hitting her. They tied the badly beaten woman to a car and drove it around until she succumbed to her injuries. Her broken body was thrown along the riverbank and torched.

This was not a witch hunt in the remote hamlets of Afghanistan. Nor did this happen under the Taliban rule. This crime happened in March 2015 in the liberalised Afghanistan under the watch of the allied forces and close to the palace of a progressive President.

Farkhunda Malikzadas story is important to understand the perils of the binary viewpoint that the world has of Afghanistan. When America sold the justification for the war in 2001, women became the central focus. How the Afghan women were subjugated and oppressed by the Taliban made global headlines. Their only savour, we were told, were the Western forces that would set them free by establishing a government that looked out for the women and a rule of law that protected them. We were given only two choices oppression by the Taliban or freedom by the Western invasion. There was no room for an alternative.

Farkhunda was a student of Islamic law and wore the veil, but she was also brave enough to stand up to a man against what she believed were un-Islamic practices. The barbaric actions of the mob captured on video, the incompetence of the Afghan police who stood by and watched the attack, the indifference of the hundreds who cheered or mutely witnessed the atrocities unfold, the sheer brutality of this gendered violence shows that little had changed in Afghanistan when it is not looked at through the rose-tinted glasses of the Western aid agencies.

When America sold the justification for the war in 2001, women became the central focus.

Farkhundas killers were not the Taliban, but city folks from the custodian of a religious shrine to street vendors, from the Afghan police to a 16-year-old boy who was part of the bloodthirsty mob. Many did not don religious attire or sport turbans and long beards, but were clean shaven and wore jeans and tee shirts, some were educated and some grew up in a US-occupied Afghanistan with its liberal dose of womens rights. Yet they were culpable of committing a murder over a rumour. The new Afghan legal system failed to give Farkhunda justice.

However, in an unprecedented display of feminist solidarity, Farkhundas burial saw women carrying her coffin chanting We are all Farkhunda and over 1000 people both men and women attended the funeral. But the spectacle of her murder, the re-enactment of the crime, the twist and turns of the narratives around it, the global outrage (however meagre) propelled this story to be exploited by many for their own socio-political gains, with little focus on structural changes that could prevent another Farkhunda.

If Farkhundas murder teaches us one thing, it is that there are no binaries in Afghanistan: The West is not the saviour of Afghan women. And the Taliban is not the only monster.

If Farkhundas murder teaches us one thing, it is that there are no binaries in Afghanistan: The West is not the saviour of Afghan women. And the Taliban is not the only monster.

The binary thinking of the saviour and the monster can be traced to colonial discourses dominated by what is often termed the white saviour complex. This sentiment was clearly evident in the American First Lady Laura Bushs radio address to her country in November 2001: Because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. They can listen to music and teach their daughters without fear of punishment. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.

By terming the American military attack as heroic and a much-needed intervention to protect the women of Afghanistan from the men within their fold, the First Lady affirmed the subjectivity of the White western male saviour by exploiting the psychological subjugation of the Brown Afghans. Indeed, here the subjects of the Global South the Afghan women and girls are simply used as objects to confirm the White subjectivity through a sense of gratefulness to the White Saviour.

This also exemplifies a clash of civilisations discourse, which is aided by creating a visual palette in the form of photographs and videos that juxtapose the self with the Other. Womens oppression served as an excellent marker to constitute this visual binary. Images began floating in newsprint and television of Afghan women in short skirts alongside those now in full burqa, or of Western women enjoying a music concert with veiled young girls huddled together outside a closed school.

The struggles of the white, heterosexual, elite, western woman have gained currency as the only history of feminism setting itself up as a role model for the rest of the world. Any woman who does not fit this image is deemed oppressed and in need of saving, making her a white mans burden and the white feminists cause clbre. Hence it is important to deconstruct the normative western feminist notions of gender and bring into focus indigenous understandings of gender from the global south and include it into the larger geo-political feminist epistemology.

The struggles of the white, heterosexual, elite, western woman have gained currency as the only history of feminism setting itself up as a role model for the rest of the world

The image of the Afghan woman draped in the head-to-foot burqa became the justification of a military action. The idea that Afghan (read Muslim) women needed saving became the central focus. The identity of global south women is constructed through the western lens and their agency disavowed within a global discourse. This is highly problematic if not understood in a historical and contextual framework. It also reinforces a sense of Western arrogance that their way of life is superior and unchallenged. This binary of the West and global south is simplistic in its construction as it fails to consider that the West is also shrouded in intersectional structural inequalities and gendered violence.

Few understand the country of Afghanistan its demography, politics or culture. The US and the Taliban were not always pitched on opposite sides. The Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979 got American presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan supporting and arming the resistance fighters (mujahideen) who have now become the Taliban. In fact one of the USs closest ally was mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, infamous for throwing acid on the faces of women who did not wear the burqa, while the US turned a blind eye.

Many of the Afghan population live in villages and hamlets where the tribal leaders hold a huge sway. Occupation by one foreign force after another British, Russians, US and its allies has only fuelled a revival of extreme religious bigotry as a mode of what they term self-preservation. The foreign occupying army has been equated with liberal thought and the resistance against both has been building. The global discourse (or lack of) on Afghanistans economy and politics coupled with corruption and disregard for the rural poor has left a gaping hole that the militant Taliban filled.

To many women living in the remote mountainous hamlets of the ravaged country, food and healthcare are priorities over education and employment. Mini-skirts and music concerts are not the aspirational goals for many Afghan women. And not all women who wear the veil are subjugated. Making it the central focus of liberation of the Afghan women alienates those who find comfort behind the layers of the garment. Issues around womens education and employment opportunities were largely focussed on select cities while corruption and unfair practices in the government were widespread.

It is impossible to isolate gender from the many cultural and political intersections through which it is constituted and maintained, and it is therefore important to understand and include the complexities of compoundness to explore the diverse experiences of differently positioned women and to make visible the collaboration that exists between systemic gender violence and the power equations that exist between individuals and groups for or against feminist causes and their intersectional differences.

The binary of the white men saving brown women from brown men (as scholar Gayatri Spivak eloquently puts it) is a narrative that needs to be challenged as it erases the history of feminisms within the global south.

Independence belongs to all of us that that is why we celebrate it. Do you think, however, that our nation from the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of our nation and Islam. From their examples we must learn that we must all contribute toward the development of our nation and that this cannot be done without being equipped with knowledge. So, we should all attempt to acquire as much knowledge as possible, in order that we may render our services to society in the manner of the women of early IslamAfghan Queen Soraya Tarzi, 1926

These words of Soraya Tarzi (1899-1968), Queen consort to King Amanullah Khan but better known as the Human Rights Queen of Afghanistan, paved the way for a new Afghanistan in the 1920s. She was born in the Ottoman-controlled Syria to exiled parents Asma and Mahmud Beg Tarzi, who in the early 20th century returned to Afghanistan at the behest of King Habibullah and started the first modern newspaper- Seraj-ul-Akbhar. It gave voice to women under the banner Celebrating Women of the World, edited by Asma. Ideas of womens education and liberty were often discussed. King Habibullahs son Amanullah fell in love and married Soraya in 1913.

After Habibullahs assassination in 1918, Amanullah took to the throne and successfully defeated the British in the third Anglo-Afghan war in 1919. The newly liberated Afghanistan saw a new constitution one that also saw women being liberated from the regressive traditional cultural norms. Amanullah treated Soraya as a partner in his endeavours to modernise the country.

In a dramatic public event, the royal couple introduced the idea of popular feminism. King Amanullah made a powerful speech stressing that Islam did not ask women to wear the veil, at the end of which Queen Soraya publicly tore her veil. Many other women then followed suit. New reforms made wearing the veil optional in Afghanistan.

Reforms by Amanullahs government included abolishment of slavery and the banning of child marriage, polygamy, revenge killing and bride prices. Soraya was the first woman minister for education, started a school for girls and sent her two daughters to it. She also began the first womens magazine in Afghanistan called Ershad-I-Niswan (Guidance for Women). She founded a grievance centre for women suffering from domestic violence and created a special task force a kind of an all-women secret service- to monitor men who abused women. One of Amanullahs sisters founded a hospital and another started an organisation that supported women suffering from oppression. In the 1920s, none other than the Royal family of Afghanistan sowed ideas of feminism by leading from the front.

It is little wonder that women in Afghanistan earned the right to vote after the country won independence from Britain in 1919,one year before women in the United States were allowed at the polls and almost a decade before women in the UK gained the same voting rights as men. Amanullah also introduced a social insurance to provide pensions linked to old age and disability, sickness and maternity benefits and workers compensation (a decade before the US).

To encourage womens education, the royal couple helped facilitate 15 women to go to Turkey to study in 1928. In fact, the King and Queen received honorary degrees from University of Oxford during their tour of Europe in 1927-1928. However, this tour also backfired. It was widely suspected that the British leaked photographs of the tour to the traditionalists in Afghan villages, who used them to instigate the rural masses against the royal couple.

More reforms on the return and in particular a separation of the state and church (mosque in this case) and a Western judiciary (instead of the Shariah law) led to more angst against the monarchy by the traditionalists. Amanullah soon faced a coup by the tribal leaders and the royal family had to flee to Europe in 1929. Soon all their reforms were reversed and the new patriarchal ruler stripped women of their hard-earned rights.

Soraya and Amanullahs story and those of others like them are often lost in grand Western narrative of feminism that has always only visualised global south women as subjugated and oppressed, and men as tyrants and barbaric.

In 2020, Time magazine posthumously put Soraya Tarzi on the cover of the 1927 edition calling her a progressive royal acknowledging her contributions to the womens cause in Afghanistan. But Soraya and Amanullahs story and those of others like them are often lost in grand Western narrative of feminism that has always only visualised global south women as subjugated and oppressed, and men as tyrants and barbaric. The two Afghan Royals were forging a path of progress for women in Afghanistan, yet it was a journey cut short, not just by the religious bigots but also by the British whose political interests superseded women reforms.

It is heart-breaking to know that the generation of girls that grew up believing that they were free to pursue their dreams and realise their potential will now have to hide their degrees and give up their professions as their futures remain uncertain.

By occupying Afghanistan for two decades, the US, UK and allies are duty bound to save the Afghans. A deal has been struck between the Taliban and the US that benefits their political and economic interests, but does this include safeguarding the rights of women and the vulnerable not just on paper but in practice? What would be the consequences should the Taliban renege on its promises? Who will be held accountable?

The Western leaders who once rallied support for the invasion of Afghanistan on the womens liberation card, now seem to have abandoned those very women who were promised safety and security as they enrolled in education institutions, joined the workforce and took up political positions. Today as the expats flee, many natives are left behind, waiting to be killed.

As Taliban establishes its rule in Afghanistan, the future of the country is unpredictable and the situation for women is frightening. Many are expecting to be at the end of a barrel of a patriarchal gun both figuratively and literally. Remember Malala Yousufzai? The next one may not be a survivor.

We, as global citizens, need to rally our support, pressure our governments and the international agencies to protect the Afghan women and other vulnerable citizens. We need to open our borders and our minds to break through the binaries of rhetoric thrusted on us and demand a better outcome an outcome that enables an orderly transition, safeguards the vulnerable and does not turn back the clock on gender reforms.

Women in Afghanistan are counting on our support. We cannot abandon them now.

This article givesthe views of the author and does not represent the position of theMedia@LSE blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Image credit

Image 1: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona via Unsplash

Image 2: Andre Klimke via Unsplash

Image 3: Isaak Alexandre Karslian via Unsplash

Read more:

Afghanistan and the colonial project of feminism: dismantling the binary lens - EUROPP - European Politics and Policy

We continue our coverage from last night when we reported that former Government Minister, Rene Jaime Montero, is now wanted by Police for the crime of willful oppression. Sources have since contacted us saying that 74-year-old retired politician was seen trying to cross the border into Guatemala on Saturday, upon getting intel of his imminent arrest. The reports went further to say that Montero was in the company of another man traveling in a grey Toyota Hilux. It turns out that we were not the only ones who got that tip.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: Thats the information we receive as well and thats the reason why I dont even believe that hes out of the country but youre saying that his attorney says that he is then his attorney can bring him in to us.

And while both our newsroom and the Police Commissioner got the same tip on Monteros attempt to leave the country, UDP Chairman, Senator Michael Peyrefitte has declared that the former UDP Minister, Rene Montero is in the United States. Peyrefittte says the wanted poster issued for Montero is meant to cause embarrassment and that the charge being levied against Montero is bogus. Peyrefitte says that Montero will hand himself over to police when he returns to the country.

Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Chairman: I see an arrest warrant which was done clearly to just try and cause embarrassment and try to belittle the Honorable Rene Montero. I see they put up an arrest warrant with a description of the minister, you dont know what Rene Montero looks like ? You dont know where to find Minister Montero? I mean come on man. Even for a journalist you know that that is absolute nonsense and foolishness. Rene Montero called me from the United States yesterday and said that hes there for medical purposes and as soon as hes done with that hes going to come right back and face some wilful oppression, some obscure charge in the criminal code that says that some time between 2016 and 2020 he committed willful oppression. They are so bogus, they are so silly that they cannot even specify what he has done. They cannot even specify what time he supposedly committed this willful oppression and youre telling me that they must have evidence ? I am telling you they have no evidence. I am telling you that what this is about is for a reporter like you to be distracted and to ask me foolishness about a foolish situation. Lets talk about the fact that Santa Familia is burning. Lets talk about the fact that they still dont have a handle on COVID. Lets talk about the fact that we still dont have a $5 minimum wage. 10% cut of peoples salaries an absolute mal administration that Johnny Briceno is presiding over so what they do every now and again is something like this to hopefully distract the public but the public will not be distracted because the public sees this for exactly what it is. If they wanted to charge Rene Montero from last week they could have simply called me as the Chairman of the Party they could have called Mr.Montero, they could have called anybody to say we have an arrest warrant for you we want you to come in and Mr.Montero would have gladly gone in but they chose to do it like this in the hopes that they could cause embarrassment and win some cheap political points but I can tell you something the Belizean people are looking right through this for what it is.

Reporter: Did Mr. Montero Indicate that when he returns from the US hell hand himself over to police ?

Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Chairman: What you mean ? He has to. He wants to. Hes dying to but he said hes already there. Had he known then that there was an arrest warrant for him or a charge out for him then he would have immediately cancelled his trip and I would have taken him to the court and we would have looked at these charges, see what evidence they have, laugh at them, get bail and then prepare for trial.

Reporter: So he had no idea that the warrant would be issued before leaving to the US.

Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Chairman: We dont hide from nothing. We dont have any reason to hide. We gladly face it and Minister Montero cannot wait to come back to Belize to face these bogus charges and be done with them.

As we noted in last nights newscast, Montero has lawyered up with Attorney Orson Elrington. A statement from Elringtons law office came in late last night indicating that this move to arrest Montero is merely a distraction from bigger national issues.

Orson OJ Elrington: My client maintains that obviously the action to issue this warrant is malicious, it is unwarranted and it stinks of political mischief. In fact I believe multiple news outlets, multiple organizations will confirm and maybe Love FM too can confirm that in fact how the warrant was received is not through the Belize Police Department but it was through political operatives of the PUP they are the ones who started to disseminate this warrant. Furthermore to show you how unprecedented it is, how unwarranted it is and how much it stinks of political mischief we have seen way too many murders in Belize, way too many murders, way too many rapes and I have not on one instance seen a wanted poster for any of the accused in any of those offences and you can correct me if Im wrong but I personally have never ever seen one. So you have a offence of course which my client treats with tremendous seriousness because it goes to the heart of his integrity. This is a man who is a three time area representative, a man who has been a public servant for decades. A man who holds his integrity to the highest possible standards and therefore he takes the allegations very seriously and he totally denies the allegations against him and he will defend those allegations against him.

Montero was a government minister for 12 years under the Dean Barrow administration. His latter years in government saw him running the Ministry of Works.

See the original post here:

Commissioner Police Says Wanted Former Minister Rene Montero Attempted to Leave the Country Via the Western Border Love FM | Belize News and Music...

The Native Womens Association of Canada launched an aggressive campaign which aims to activate Indigenous women from coast to coast to coast to get to the polls and have their voices heard"

To vote or not to vote? That is the question Indigenous people face every federal and provincial election.

On Aug. 31, when the Assembly of First Nations released its five-priority platform for the federal election, National Chief RoseAnne Archibald weighed in. Like her predecessor Perry Bellegarde, Archibald encouraged people to vote.

First Nations voters can and will make a large impact on the results on election night, said Archibald.

The Native Womens Association of Canada launched an aggressive campaign entitled Were done asking, were voting, which aims to activate Indigenous women from coast to coast to coast to get to the polls and have their voices heard, said the news release.

Both the Manitoba Metis Federation and the Mtis Nation of Ontario are encouraging all of our citizens to vote.

Despite these pushes by Indigenous organizations to get people to mark their ballots, Courtney Skye, research fellow with the Indigenous think-tank the Yellowhead Institute, says voting is a contentious issue.

Some Indigenous people believe that Canada has long had policies of assimilation and voting is another step along that way of assimilation and indoctrination, said Skye.

The issue is, do you vote for your own oppression? Because Canada is a state that is invested and continues to be invested in the oppression of Indigenous peoples, the suppression of Indigenous rights and the denial of those rights in every aspect of the country, said Niigaan Sinclair, an assistant professor in Native Studies at the University of Manitoba.

We continue to have a country in which Indigenous peoples are seen as second tier, are seen as lesser than, are deemed as not as important or an option for political parties to decide to deal with at some point. In that environment the fact is that it is very difficult to justify voting because if all the parties suck, why would you participate in any of it? he said.

Skye also brings attention to the existence of pre-Confederation treaties with the British Crown, including those held by her Haudenosaunee people.

If we expect the Crown to respect our nationhood and our autonomy over our affairs then we have to extend that back out of mutual respect, and so, for a lot of Indigenous people who consider themselves treaty people and expect the Crown to honour these treaties, then they follow through with that in their own conduct and they dont vote in elections, she said.

For those who do choose to vote, Sinclair says its a matter of making a choice between lessen(ing) the damage of voting in the party that will do the least amount of damage or you choose the party that will be complicit in your own oppression.

Skye isnt as cynical as Sinclair. She says those who choose to vote are often driven by frustration of the status quo and not necessarily (by) being indoctrinated into another system and want to have Indigenous voices in the House of Commons.

Indigenous people make that choice for themselves, informed by their own history, their own treaty agreements, their own view, what riding theyre in, whether or not theres a (good) candidate in their riding, whether they view their riding as close or not. Theres a lot of different things I think that go into Indigenous people making the choice of whether or not theyre going to vote in the upcoming election, said Skye.

She also points to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which entrenches the human rights of Indigenous peoples and collective groups to participate in elections of the state without losing any of their rights and entitlements of Indigenous peoples.

Skye says it makes sense that the AFN would encourage its members to vote as the AFN itself is a colonial construct Its a representative body of Indian Act band councils. They dont represent nations; they represent First Nations as creations of the federal government. They are people who are trying to affect change within the system. I get where theyre coming from.

Getting out the vote is a standard practise of all national chiefs, said Sinclair, adding he believes that push goes back as far as Phil Fontaine who served as national chief from 1997 to 2000 and again from 2003 to 2009.

The AFN has to deal with the federal government and so if theres a brown face in that government, naturally, they think that will evoke change, he said.

Skye observes that Inuit have a much different relationship with Canada than do the Haudenosaunee people. That difference became clear with the positive reaction from Inuit organizations when Inuk woman Mary Simon was appointed the new Governor General, the first Indigenous person to hold that position.

In an earlier interview with Windspeaker.com, Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., said that having an Indigenous person representing the Queen was not a conflict, especially an Inuk, as the experiences that we have had are quite different from First Nations and Mtis.

As for the Mtis, Sinclair says they are pleased with Trudeaus Liberal government. While the Mtis do have longstanding issues the fact is the Mtis have been able to justify many of the policies that the Liberals addressed and theyve found a very willing dance partner.

While we believe that Justin Trudeaus government has developed the strongest relationship with the Indigenous community in Canadian history, we are willing to work with any party that wins the election, said Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand in a news release. He also said the Red River Mtis would be actively participating in the election.

Skye believes the number of Indigenous voters has slowly increased over the years, but she is not counted among those numbers. Skye has never voted nor will she be this time around.

For me I make the personal choice to invest in our own communities, participate in our own governance structures and revitalize our traditional systems over leveraging power from the state to affect change, said Skye.

Sinclair, who is Anishinaabe, has voted in the past although not often. Hes more inclined to vote in provincial elections, he says, because that can influence policies that pertain to his career as a teacher. He is uncertain whether hell be voting federally this month.

Often for me its a determination of will my vote matter? Frankly, my vote never matters in the area Ive lived, said Sinclair.

The federal election is Sept. 20.

- Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative, Windspeaker.com

Read more:

Many eligible Indigenous voters struggle with whether or not they will go to the polls - MidlandToday

Native Womens Association of Canada launched an aggressive campaign that aims to activate Indigenous women from coast to coast to coast to get to the polls and have their voices heard

To vote or not to vote? That is the question Indigenous people face every federal and provincial election.

On Aug. 31, when the Assembly of First Nations released its five-priority platform for the federal election, National Chief RoseAnne Archibald weighed in. Like her predecessor Perry Bellegarde, Archibald encouraged people to vote.

First Nations voters can and will make a large impact on the results on election night, said Archibald.

The Native Womens Association of Canada launched an aggressive campaign entitled Were done asking, were voting, which aims to activate Indigenous women from coast to coast to coast to get to the polls and have their voices heard, said the news release.

Both the Manitoba Metis Federation and the Mtis Nation of Ontario are encouraging all of our citizens to vote.

Despite these pushes by Indigenous organizations to get people to mark their ballots, Courtney Skye, research fellow with the Indigenous think-tank the Yellowhead Institute, says voting is a contentious issue.

Some Indigenous people believe that Canada has long had policies of assimilation and voting is another step along that way of assimilation and indoctrination, said Skye.

The issue is, do you vote for your own oppression? Because Canada is a state that is invested and continues to be invested in the oppression of Indigenous peoples, the suppression of Indigenous rights and the denial of those rights in every aspect of the country, said Niigaan Sinclair, an assistant professor in Native Studies at the University of Manitoba.

We continue to have a country in which Indigenous peoples are seen as second tier, are seen as lesser than, are deemed as not as important or an option for political parties to decide to deal with at some point. In that environment the fact is that it is very difficult to justify voting because if all the parties suck, why would you participate in any of it? he said.

Skye also brings attention to the existence of pre-Confederation treaties with the British Crown, including those held by her Haudenosaunee people.

If we expect the Crown to respect our nationhood and our autonomy over our affairs then we have to extend that back out of mutual respect, and so, for a lot of Indigenous people who consider themselves treaty people and expect the Crown to honour these treaties, then they follow through with that in their own conduct and they dont vote in elections, she said.

For those who do choose to vote, Sinclair says its a matter of making a choice between lessen(ing) the damage of voting in the party that will do the least amount of damage or you choose the party that will be complicit in your own oppression.

Skye isnt as cynical as Sinclair. She says those who choose to vote are often driven by frustration of the status quo and not necessarily (by) being indoctrinated into another system and want to have Indigenous voices in the House of Commons.

Indigenous people make that choice for themselves, informed by their own history, their own treaty agreements, their own view, what riding theyre in, whether or not theres a (good) candidate in their riding, whether they view their riding as close or not. Theres a lot of different things I think that go into Indigenous people making the choice of whether or not theyre going to vote in the upcoming election, said Skye.

She also points to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which entrenches the human rights of Indigenous peoples and collective groups to participate in elections of the state without losing any of their rights and entitlements of Indigenous peoples.

Skye says it makes sense that the AFN would encourage its members to vote as the AFN itself is a colonial construct Its a representative body of Indian Act band councils. They dont represent nations; they represent First Nations as creations of the federal government. They are people who are trying to affect change within the system. I get where theyre coming from.

Getting out the vote is a standard practise of all national chiefs, said Sinclair, adding he believes that push goes back as far as Phil Fontaine who served as national chief from 1997 to 2000 and again from 2003 to 2009.

The AFN has to deal with the federal government and so if theres a brown face in that government, naturally, they think that will evoke change, he said.

Skye observes that Inuit have a much different relationship with Canada than do the Haudenosaunee people. That difference became clear with the positive reaction from Inuit organizations when Inuk woman Mary Simon was appointed the new Governor General, the first Indigenous person to hold that position.

In an earlier interview with Windspeaker.com, Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., said that having an Indigenous person representing the Queen was not a conflict, especially an Inuk, as the experiences that we have had are quite different from First Nations and Mtis.

As for the Mtis, Sinclair says they are pleased with Trudeaus Liberal government. While the Mtis do have longstanding issues the fact is the Mtis have been able to justify many of the policies that the Liberals addressed and theyve found a very willing dance partner.

While we believe that Justin Trudeaus government has developed the strongest relationship with the Indigenous community in Canadian history, we are willing to work with any party that wins the election, said Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand in a news release. He also said the Red River Mtis would be actively participating in the election.

Skye believes the number of Indigenous voters has slowly increased over the years, but she is not counted among those numbers. Skye has never voted nor will she be this time around.

For me I make the personal choice to invest in our own communities, participate in our own governance structures and revitalize our traditional systems over leveraging power from the state to affect change, said Skye.

Sinclair, who is Anishinaabe, has voted in the past although not often. Hes more inclined to vote in provincial elections, he says, because that can influence policies that pertain to his career as a teacher. He is uncertain whether hell be voting federally this month.

Often for me its a determination of will my vote matter? Frankly, my vote never matters in the area Ive lived, said Sinclair.

The federal election is Sept. 20.

- Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative, Windspeaker.com

Read more from the original source:

Many Indigenous voters struggle with whether to vote - OrilliaMatters