Dawn Images

Afghanistan is now in the hands of the Taliban and thousands of Afghans are desperately looking for ways out of the country. Videos of Afghan men clinging to the wheels and wings of planes and then plummeting to their death will tell you just how desperate they are to leave. But amidst this, there have been many voices praising the Taliban takeover. Anoushey Ashraf isn't one of them — she's calling for people to be more kind.

The actor and RJ shared a lengthy but very necessary post on Afghanistan on Instagram. In the post she shared pictures of a trip she made to the country in 2016 for a TV show.

"On this trip I met girls who wanted to cycle for the Olympics, boys who only wanted to be the next Messi. I met Imams at masjids who greeted me with love, respect and duas. I met fantastic TV hosts who were living under tense conditions but were also excited about the new game shows they were launching. I met writers, poets and restauranteurs. I met children of the Hazara, beautiful even with their traumas," she recalled.

"They were exactly like you and me. And today, they’re helpless, homeless and abandoned."

This doesn’t make the government or the Americans my heroes, she clarified. "But are the Taliban any better? So stop your hate. In this moment, whoever leads the nation it’s still in a crisis and people's lives have been disrupted all over again. Not fair!" she cried.

She also raised one point that no one seems to realise. "No one wants to leave their homes and live as a refugee," she said. People against refugees seem to believe that these people willingly and happily leave their homes and possessions to live in refugee camps thousands of miles away, where they are often not even afforded dignity or a comfortable place to sleep.

"Look at the second last picture in this series," Ashraf asked, referring to a collage of portraits. "I photographed each of them. They’re humans with dreams. Please ask yourself why you grew up to be so bitter, that instead of giving people the room to breathe, you abuse them, give them titles like ‘yeh liberals’. Please be kinder. Be a true Muslim on the inside and you’ll never harbour hate for anyone in this world," she wrote.

"Sure, the people in power say they want peace, but to many peace only comes on their terms," the actor explained. "Peace means girls not working and men not playing sports. Surrender means peace. Not a single life and their true dreams come into consideration. If you think this is ‘good’ let me remind you it’s the innocent losing their right to be free for these leaders (Taliban or not) to feed their agenda, politics, power and greed. NOTHING ELSE," she wrote.

"The Taliban says they’re ready to evolve and give women and children their rights. Let’s not hail them heroes yet. They’ve said they have learned from the past. Only time will tell. Reaching out to all my Afghan friends tonight, you are in my prayers. Humanity first."

Of the many people — including celebrities — posting about Afghanistan, Ashraf's post really struck a chord with us. Her pictures don't show people crying and mourning, they show happy people, full of hopes and dreams. Just like us. We hope that people can be empathetic towards Afghans right now — they've lost more than you can imagine and all they want is for them and their families to be safe.