Actress Angelina Jolie made her Instagram debut on Saturday with a bang, by sharing a strong message on the current crisis in Afghanistan with the Taliban.
Angelina revealed that she came on to this social media platform to share the stories and voices of those across the globe fighting for their basic human rights, referring primarily to the Afghans who are currently struggling after the militant group took over Afghanistan and established it as the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’.
The 46-year-old Oscar-winning actress shared a picture of a handwritten letter that she reportedly received from a teenage girl living in Afghanistan right now. The girl had expressed the citizens’ collective feelings of helplessness and fear at the thought of living under the Taliban’s rule again. One of the excerpts from the letter read, “20 years and again we have no rights. The life of all of us is dark. We all lost our freedom, and we are imprisoned again (sic).”
With the Taliban assuming control once again over the country, Afghans are worried that the harsh practices practised by the militant group in their imposition of sharia (Islamic religious law) will now return. This includes prevention of work and education for women, mandatory wearing of burkha for females, and the encouragement of punishments like stoning, whipping and hanging.
Angelina wrote in the caption, “This is a letter I was sent from a teenage girl in Afghanistan. Right now, the people of Afghanistan are losing their ability to communicate on social media and to express themselves freely. So I’ve come on Instagram to share their stories and the voices of those across the globe who are fighting for their basic human rights (sic).”
She also spoke about her experience meeting refugees at the border of Afghanistan two weeks before the tragic 9/11 terror attack twenty years ago. Angelina wrote, “I was on the border of Afghanistan two weeks before 9/11, where I met Afghan refugees who had fled the Taliban. This was twenty years ago.” She added that it was “sickening to watch Afghans being displaced yet again out of the fear and uncertainty that has gripped their country (sic).”
“To spend so much time and money, to have bloodshed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand (sic),” the actress asserted.
Angelina also went on to talk about how watching Afghan refugees being treated like a burden to others was also sickening. “Watching for decades how Afghan refugees - some of the most capable people in the world - are treated like a burden is also sickening. Knowing that if they had the tools and respect, how much they would do for themselves. And meeting so many women and girls who not only wanted an education, but fought for it.”
She concluded by saying that she would continue to fight and find ways to help those suffering in Afghanistan right now, and appealed to others too to support her cause. “Like others who are committed, I will not turn away. I will continue to look for ways to help. And I hope you’ll join me (sic),” she concluded.
Angelina garnered a massive follower base of 5.2 million people within 21 hours of joining Instagram. Her bio reads, “Mom, filmmaker, Special Envoy for UN @refugees (sic).”