Angelina Jolie, who has been known to keep her private life strictly private, joined the social media platform Instagram on Friday. With ‘Mom, filmmaker, Special Envoy for UN @refugees’ as her bio, Angelina shockingly gained 4.1 million followers in less than 24 hours of debuting on the photo and video sharing app. And the followers seem to grow by the minute.
Though one might think that her posts would be a way for people to get to know about her private life, the actress glaringly stated how her Instagram account is going to address the gripping Afghanistan crisis.
In fact, her first post was a letter from an Afghan teenage girl. Talking about the Taliban taking over the country in a matter of weeks after the US troops were called back, Angelina shared how she was at the Afghan border when the refugees had fled the Taliban 20 years ago after the 9/11 attack. She shared it was “sickening” to watch the people being displaced yet again out of fear and uncertainty.
“To spend so much time and money, to have blood shed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand (sic),” her elaborate note read. She shared that she will continue to look for ways to help to address this humanitarian crisis.
Her note further read, “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 (sic).”
The actress is, however, currently following only three Instagram accounts including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – The UN Refugee Agency, NAACP – a grassroots-based civil rights organization, and an international humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation – Doctors Without Borders.
Scores of people were fleeing from the country after the Taliban captured Kabul, the last remaining region which was a haven for the people of Afghanistan. On Monday, hundreds were seen at the Kabul airport as disturbing images and video surfaced showing people tying themselves to the US military plane before the takeoff.
Many celebrities including Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Anushka Sharma, Sonu Sood and others took to social media accounts to pray for the lives of the people of Afghanistan, especially the women and girls.
