Actress and UN Equality Champion, Celina Jaitly, who has her roots in Afghanistan, took to social media to voice her opinion on the current political turmoil caused after the Taliban took over. Talking about why she hasn’t addressed the issue so far, she said, “In order to protect the safety, security and location of friends and people known to me who are stranded in Afghanistan, I had no option but to wait until things were better for them. The current outcome is shocking, I never believed we would see this day. Having said that, my heart breaks for Afghanistan, it breaks for my Afghan brothers and sisters around the world, it breaks for people who spent the last two decades rebuilding Afghanistan and it breaks for all those people who put their faith in powers whom they thought would protect them.”

The actress further added, “I also feel a sense of great guilt that I survived, but I survived thanks to the courage of one woman who fled oppression four generations ago and came to seek refuge in India. India offered refuge, dignity, respect and opportunity for that family’s generations to grow and evolve. And therefore, I stand here today in order to speak from that voice of four generations ago, that it is our... it is the governments around the world... it is their moral and legal responsibility to protect the people fleeing from oppression, from bullets, trying to save the children from being trafficked, and you never know the very person that you protect today and give refuge to, may one day become the pride and joy of your country. Being a mother myself, I know, and I am sure that no one puts their children in a boat unless they know that the water is safer than land. A lot of people put everything on land to rebuild Afghanistan in the last two decades, their lives are all in jeopardy at the moment.”

While she applauded the strength of the aid workers, she said that the world cannot ignore the issue. “Afghanistan is a wound that is bleeding, and if we all turn a blind eye to this wound, this blood will come and knock on everybody’s door in the near future.”