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.”

Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 2, 2020)

Celine Jaitly is currently in Austria with her husband and her three sons. As the country is on its way to lift the lockdown, Jaitly cannot wait to go back to her normal life. She says, “Austria went into lockdown on March 16, but restrictions started earlier that week, with bans on more than five people gathering in public put in place on March 15. The lockdown will hopefully be over almost entirely by mid-May.”

She explains that Austria’s prompt medical services have contributed in battling the pandemic. “The lockdown has helped reduce the daily increase in infections to 1.6%. There are 24-hour medical rescue support services in case of an emergency. There’s a Coronavirus hotline of the AGES - Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit here,” she says.

With children at home, life in lockdown can be a challenge but the former beauty queen credits her husband Peter Haag for being an “expert in crisis management”. She shares, “Thanks to his foresight, we were well-prepared for the lockdown much before it was announced. We’ve had no problems regarding grocery supplies despite the strict lockdown. The advantage of living high in The Alps is that we also have a continued supply of fresh local vegetables and dairy products.”

To take care of her family at this time of a health crisis, the No Entry (2005) actor has resorted to a healthier style of cooking. She says, “Cooking is my hobby, and I’ve been trying many international recipes during this time. I’m using a lot of Indian spices (in our food), thus following our Prime Minister’s advice to incorporate Ayurveda as it helps towards immunity building.”

A while ago, she took to Instagram to hail actors Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar for their donations to the PM-CARES fund. Talking about them, she says, “Shah Rukh, Gauri (Khan) and Akshay are playing very important roles in inspiring and lifting the spirits of people in India with their wonderful actions, the beauty and joy of which reminds us of our humanity.”

With public gatherings restricted in Austria following the coronavirus outbreak, the actress and her family are confined to their estate. She is making the most of this forced break to bond with family
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; March 20, 2020)

For the past few years, actress Celina Jaitley has been enjoying a quiet life away from the limelight in Austria, with her entrepreneur-hotelier husband Peter Haag and sons Winston, Viraaj and Arthur. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has left the family rattled, especially due to their proximity to Italy, one of the countries that’s heavily hit by COVID-19. Celina tells BT, “Due to proximity to Italian borders, everyone is taking extreme measures to follow the government’s directions. Even as I am worried about the way the virus is spreading, I am relieved that our estate is located high on the Alps.”

Celina says that she’s thankful for her husband’s foresight. “We were prepared well in advance — even prior to Austria’s chancellor announcing restrictions on movement in public places on Sunday. As of now, we can only leave the house for urgent work, to buy necessary food supplies or to help others. All roads and malls are deserted,” she shares.

While city-dwellers have no option other than self-isolation, the actress feels fortunate that she gets to enjoy the greens around her estate. She says, “Though we are under curfew, we have brooks, orchards, gardens and a winter garden within our property.”

The actress, who has been a part of films like No Entry, Golmaal Returns and Thank You, is also using this forced break to teach her children about India. She elaborates, “I am taking great pleasure in homeschooling the boys and teaching them Sanskrit and Hindi, besides their school curriculum. I am also educating them about ancient and modern Indian history.”

She signs off saying, “This time with my family has truly helped me get over my parents’ untimely demise last year.”

Actress and UN human rights equality activist Celina Jaitly opens up in the wake of Priyanka Chopra being accused of encouraging nuclear war through her tweet. She also talks about her army background and return to films
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; August 25, 2019)

You haven’t been in the public eye for a while now. What have you been up to?
I have been through massive ups and downs in the last three years, but I guess that’s life. But now, I am looking forward to the release of my next film — Season’s Greetings, which is tribute to filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh. I tragically lost both my parents last year and the script of this film came along at a time when I was going through an emotional crisis. It helped me sail through the turbulent waters. It’s also special because, this was the first time that I got to shoot a film in Kolkata, a city that I consider my hometown. It brought back a lot of memories. I have spent my childhood all around India, but I spent considerable amount of time in Kolkata owing to the fact that my father was posted there. Kolkata reminds me of my struggling days, as I started off my modelling career there. At heart, I am a Bengali, and I hope the people of the city adopt me as one of them. I will always be a Kolkata girl.

Priyanka Chopra has been associated with UNICEF for over a decade now. Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari sent a letter to UN on August 20, seeking her removal as their Goodwill Ambassador. She was accused of ‘encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan’, by a Pakistani-American influencer who was present at a beauty event in Los Angeles, where PC was invited as a guest. She called Priyanka a hypocrite and claimed that an old tweet of the actress supported the Indian Army and thus, encouraged war. What’s your take on this issue?
Priyanka’s simple tribute to the Armed Forces was completely blown out of proportion by a wannabe influencer. Celebrating our Armed Forces does not mean we are promoting nuclear war! Do you expect us to stop saying Jai Hind or dismiss the contribution of generations of our Armed Forces? This whole thing was unfair to Priyanka. I think it was done to evoke a hyper reaction from her, but she handled it with so much grace and dignity. First and foremost, we are Indians. Priyanka’s parents have served as doctors in the Armed Forces and four generations of my family have been in the Army. We are proud citizens of this country who stand united behind our armed forces. This does not mean we are propagating nuclear war! We are eternally grateful to the valiant services of our Armed Forces in keeping us safe and secure. India has always been a global ambassador of peace.

Do you think this was an attempt by a person to grab eyeballs and attention on social media by targeting a celebrity?
A dignified celebration of our Armed Forces’ dedication and selfless service does not mean in any way that one is encouraging nukes. Anyone who misconstrues the intent needs a reality check. This is just an insinuation by a wannabe instagrammer who wanted to increase her followers. Celebrities are often attacked on social media on baseless grounds to garner publicity. Voicing your opinion at a cosmetic event at a UN ambassador who talks about human rights does not make you a propagator of peace. You cannot accuse someone of encouraging nuclear war only because they respect their Armed Forces! Every patriot does that. There is not an iota of doubt that in order to achieve sustainable growth and development all over the world, we need to prioritise peace over war. Peace is often defined as the absence of violence, conflict, hostility and war. We can always propagate peace, but peace is not merely the absence of violence, but also vanquishing of oppression and terrorism if needed. I hate to say this, but sometimes war is needed to sustain peace... it goes both ways. Peace also comes at a cost. There is no history of continued peace in the world unless war intervened to maintain that peace. Even a soldier does not want war, but he has to go and defend his country.

Last year, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court scrapped Section 377 of the IPC. You are a strong advocate of the LGBTQIA rights. Hereon, where do you see things heading?
Many people from the LGBTQIA community have played an important role in my life. I started my career at 16 and all through these years, they have had a strong impact on me. In fact, they had such a strong influence on me that it made me stand up for what is right even before I joined the UN to support this movement of equal rights. Activism is a long process as changing mindsets is not easy. We have come a long way as we have finally overthrown an archaic law.

You married Austrian hotelier Peter Haag in 2011. How easy or tough was it initially to embrace the cultural differences?
I believe that marriage in itself is a work in progress, no matter who you are married to or which culture you are married into. I was very fortunate that my husband is an expatriate who came from a family of expats. He is openminded and was keen to embrace our Indian culture. Embracing each other’s culture is crucial in a cross-cultural marriage. Peter has taken a liking to all the crazy things I do in India. He likes street food like vada pav and paani puri. I love cooking and over the years, I have embraced cooking Austrian food in a massive way. He is Austrian, I am Indian and we have lived in places like Dubai and Singapore, and now, we are back in Europe for a while. Travel helps you evolve so much as a human being. Your children grow up as global citizens, which is fascinating because you see them imbibe different traditions and cultures. As an actor you think that you have seen it all and done it all. But no, the truth is that you haven’t. Once you live in different parts of the world, you grow by leaps and bounds.

It must be interesting to see your kids soaking in both the cultures. Moving your base from place to place has its challenges, but on the other hand, it could amount to life changing experiences for them. Do you agree?
Our kids are multilingual. Peter speaks with them in German and I speak to them in Bengali, Hindi and English. Coming from an army background, a lot of Hinglish was spoken at home. So yes, they definitely understand and speak Hindi, but not too fluently, as they have been studying in a German medium school. But the good thing is that, they have understanding of both our cultures. They look forward to festivals like Diwali and Holi. They ask for mithai after having a perfect German meal. It’s funny to overhear their conversations. The twins tell their friends from Austria, China and Japan what a paani puri is all about. They say, “It’s a ball filled with spicy water”.

DNA (July 1, 2016)

Celina Jaitly was trolled for her remarks on the terrorist attack on Istanbul. The actress had written about being in Istanbul a month before the attacks and how helpful the airport staff and Turkish Airlines had been. Celina tell us, “The trollers were so insensitive to the attacks! I had put a series of tweets from my blog. I travel with my twins alone all the time so I don’t know what I would do if such a situation arose. People with toddlers can’t even run. I didn’t tweet for self-glorification as they accused me of nor was I doing it for publicity. I had not replied but when they incessantly troll you for more than 24 hours it gets to you. None of them were concerned about the Istanbul victims but just calling me names like w****, s*** and I was tweeting because I had big b****! I was traveling in Turkish airlines for first time and it was one of my best experiences. I spent six hours at the airport. It wasn’t some tweet about some vacay with my family but I am trying to put it about the work that I do for the LGBT community. Nobody bothers to tweet about the good work one does.”

Celina Jaitly on the personal loss over the Orlando shooting and the only way to end hate crime
Upala KBR (DNA; June 15, 2016)


How many were there?
Celina says, “I was in Miami last month (May 15) to receive the prestigious Harvey Milk Award (an American politician who became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California) in Miami. The irony of it was that I gave an emotional speech dedicating the award to two brutally murdered Bangladeshi LGBTQI activists. The Harvey Milk Foundation is the biggest crusader for gay rights which his nephew, Stuart Milk, now runs. It was my contribution to gay and LGBT rights that they were honouring, and a lot of students and achievers attended the event. It still gives me goosebumps to think how many people who were at the awards function were also at the same nightclub in Orlando.”

Unbearable plight
The actress says that she spoke to Stuart post the horrific incident the next day. “He told me that one of the sponsors of the award lost six dear friends in the attack. It is very disheartening and is the biggest hate crimes act of its kind. Why do countries like the USA offer a buffet of guns to such demented minds? I saw on TV that this guy purchased his firearm a week ago. The law is the only thing making people equal, and the law sells guns. When guns fall into people’s hands, they commit the most heinous of crimes — hate crimes. In the Orlando attack, everyone lost someone — parents, sisters, brothers, friends… It was unbearable for me to watch their plight of those who escaped and the trauma on their faces. What legacy are we giving our children?”

Shock and horror
Celina adds that when she first heard about the Orlando attack, her immediate reaction was immense shock followed by horror. “First, I called Charles Radcliffe, who heads the global issues team at the UN Human Rights Office in New York, serves as human rights adviser on sexual orientation and gender identity and directs the global UN Free & Equal campaign against homophobia and transphobia. We were on CNN together and felt that it could have been anyone of us who was in there to support our sons, brothers, sisters, neighbours or family. After a couple of hours, I got so upset and depressed; I switched off the TV. It was such a nasty culmination to an evening where people had gathered to relax and have fun after a hard week of work.”

End hate crime
She continues, “Some of those who went to the nightclub will never return to their homes again. They were targeted because of who they are, and their sexual orientation and that’s so terribly sad and tragic… Hate crimes are interconnected… They are contagious, so they just become bigger. The Orlando incident is a hate crime and an act of terror. Only a few countries like the USA have such open gun laws. This heinous crime will go down in history as one of the biggest hate crimes against the LGBTQI community. The lawmakers must revoke access to guns because the record of these weapons falling into wrong hands seems to be only growing and none instead of self-defense. The law is the only thing capable of making people equal. And safe!”