https://rashidylaw.com/legal-services/family-law/ Breakdown creates media awareness Students who wanted to talk about the war in Afghanistan got a chance last Wednesday when a forum on the war was held in the Student Centre Board Room. A three-member panel was on hand to give their views on the situation, direct discussion and answer questions. It consisted of UTM’s Diversity Officer Pardeep Nagra, Professor Richard Iton and Mohammed El Rashidy from the Muslim Students Association. After being welcomed to the event and having the proceedings outlined by Nagra, Iton made several points about the current war. Although he clearly stated that he was not an expert in international politics, he was obviously knowledgeable of the subject. “It’s not clear that the United States has thought through the long-term results of what they’re doing,” said Iton. “They don’t seem to have a goal for what they want to see in that part of the world after the war.” He spoke about the dangers of describing the terrorists simply as evil, which takes sets America implicitly up as innocent. If it’s purely good against evil, it’s difficult to examine things like foreign policy with helped to bring the situation to this point. Nagra brought up the anti-terror bill that’s likely to be passed, agreeing with Iton that non-whites and especially Arab-looking people will bear the brunt of its effect, as they now bear the brunt of increased security at places like airports. El Rashidy followed, talking about the troubles of someone being held currently for suspected involvement. He said a man is kept naked in solitary confinement and only allowed to see his lawyer for five minutes a day. Because of the Secret Evidence Act, his lawyer can’t even find out for sure what his client is charged with. “In the mainstream media, only the facts of the trial are reported, not these abuses of the accused,” says El Rashidy. “We don’t get a balanced message delivered to the public because we don’t have a balanced,