a British journalist who fled the war Afghanistan As a child talks about his heartbreaking phone call with his cousin who fears he will be murdered Taliban Being very generous.
33-year-old Nelufar Hedayat was born in Kabul, but abandoned in the late eighties Pakistan and before arriving in Saudi Arabia London in 1994.
The documentary-maker is a regular face on British TV screens, best known for presenting CBBC’s newsrounds from 2011 to 2014. She has also presented for Channel 4’s Unreported World, and now has her own podcast series Doha Debates.
Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Nelufar explained how his female cousin, who cannot be named for her safety, has ‘topped the Taliban’s hit list’ because of her work as a university lecturer .
Nelufar Hedayat, 33, was born in Kabul but left in the late eighties, spending time in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, before arriving in London in 1994. She is featured at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
‘My dad and I got a call from my cousin in Afghanistan.
‘My cousins were saying, “They’re going to kill me. I’ve been too generous. I’ve worked the other way around.”
“I wanted to call and say goodbye. If I never get a chance to talk to you again, thank you for everything. We love you.”
It comes amid fears that ISIS will strike again before Tuesday’s deadline to release foreign troops after a double suicide attack on Kabul airport that killed at least 170 people, including 13 US service personnel.
The Taliban took control of Kabul last week, seizing their power over the nation by posing in the presidential palace, leaving many Afghan women fearing for their lives to flee the country.
During the Taliban regime in the 1990s, women were forced to wear a head-to-toe cover, not allowed to work or go to schools, and were forced to wear their clothes unless accompanied by a male relative. He was not allowed to leave the house.
The documentary-maker is a regular face on British TV screens, best known for presenting CBBC’s newsrounds from 2011 to 2014. She has also presented for Channel 4’s Unreported World, and now has her own podcast series Doha Debates. Four-year-old Nelufar, pictured at right with her sister Mersal, (left) in Peshawar, Pakistan
Nelufar’s cousin is a teacher at Kabul University on democracy and its benefits.
‘[My cousin] He is everything the Taliban hates. She says she will be at the top of the Taliban hit list.
‘It’s immeasurable to know what to do when you get a call like this.
‘In the span of two weeks the women of my family in Afghanistan, whom we brag about, who had studied and educated themselves against the odds and made something of themselves, are in great danger.
‘For fear of any attack, I cannot identify my cousin any more.’
Nelufar Hedayat, 33, was born in Kabul but left in the late eighties, spending time in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, before arriving in London in 1994.
In the last two weeks, Nelufar’s family has mentally prepared themselves for many such calls.
‘It’s heartbreaking to make this call. I feel completely helpless. These are the Afghans we are leaving behind. They don’t get any escape, they don’t survive.’
Nell said the current situation feels like ‘relive a nightmare’ as ‘millions of people have been left disappointed’.
‘My second aunt in Kabul takes care of her husband who was disabled after a stroke. When we call her, she cries and cries.
Nelufar is pictured at left during her mother’s experience of her first day working at the Barrister Chambers in London in 2002. He is pictured in Peshawar, Pakistan in 1992
‘No words were exchanged between us because frankly, what can we say? We cry with him.’
‘To the Afghans, the British people, and people around the world, it all feels like a nightmare to remember.
‘We have to keep our mouths around words we haven’t said in a long time. Burqa, Taliban, Sharia, extremism, beheading, war.
‘We are learning fast that history has repeated itself.
‘After America, Britain invaded a land far away, tried to force its way through the army, and is now being forced out by the same people they’ve tried to destroy.’
‘Millions of Afghans will be left helpless in this hopeless crisis, but for the lucky few who are being evacuated to other countries, I can tell you they have another battle on their hands – the biggest of which is being misunderstood. Is.’
Nazir Ahmed (Nel’s father), younger sister Mursal (left) and Nelufar (age 3) on the right in 1990
Based on his experience as an Afghan refugee in Britain in the 80s, Nell said, ‘I want to warn’ [the Afghan refugees of today] Be brave and don’t let reckless attacks called lazy, greedy, smelly, cumbersome, unwanted and dangerous reach them.
She continued, ‘I want to tell them that there are kind and understanding people who will see their efforts for what they are: great, ambitious, desperate and indispensable.’
‘If I could tell the British and American people what to do with Afghanistan right now, I would say: be kind.
‘For God’s sake. Be kind and understand, we in the West are a climate disaster away from homelessness by the thousands and other countries in need of help.
‘Donate to charities you feel connected to. If you join the LGBTQ+ community, help queer Afghans.
Nelufar, 33, was trafficked from Kabul to London as a child, but is now flourishing as a broadcaster.
‘If you identify with the women of Afghanistan, donate accordingly. If you can open your vacant room or flat to a refugee, there are charities that help connect refugees to those in need who want to help individuals directly.
‘There is so much work that needs to be done.’
Nelufar previously told FEMAIL that she was illegally smuggled out of Kabul by human traffickers in the late eighties, who took her and her family on a perilous journey to claim asylum in Britain .
At one point, the smugglers told Nell’s family that they were going to the Germans before the plane landed at Heathrow.
His mother Patuni worked as a civil engineer and often traveled abroad with her friends before the war between various religious and political groups in her native Afghanistan.
She grew up in London and eventually pursued a career in journalism, presenting for CBBC’s Newsround as well as Channel 4’s ‘Unreported World’ from 2011–2014.
Nelufar (left), pictured with two friends aged three in Peshawar, Pakistan
He is now an independent filmmaker and a correspondent for Doha Debates, a media organization based in Qatar that produces films, podcasts, debates and videos.
Nell’s work has allowed her to stay in touch with her country and understand the role of female teachers in Afghan society in particular.
“Back in 2011, I made a documentary about the lives of Afghan women after the fall of the Taliban in the late 90s,” she told FEMAIL.
‘These women were heroes by any standards, but what stood out to me was my aunt Marzia, who taught young women smuggling school books under her burqa. Since then, girls’ education in Afghanistan has increased like never before.
Now, 20 years after girls were given the right and freedom to learn and go to school, Nell says that once again her aunt had to close the school where she was once headmaster.
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