Afghanistan Crisis

'I hate the pity': An Afghan refugee in Delhi thinks of home

In 1990, two-year-old Mohammad Farid Jalil fled Afghanistan during the civil war. Along with his father, then pregnant mother, and brother, he came to Delhi, where he's lived for over 30 years.

Farid, now 33, is a filmmaker in Delhi. A few years ago, his brother, who works with the Afghan government, moved back to Kabul with his family. Now, with the country falling into the hands of the Taliban, Farid and his family in India are worried about his brother's safety. As their helplessness grew, Farid decided for the first time to pick up his camera and document the stories of Afghans in India.

Newslaundry met Farid at the Delhi office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, where Afghans have been staging a protest, asking for refugee status. Farid sat down with Newslaundry to explain what home means to him, why he's tired, what it means to be a refugee, and why he now feels the need to record this act of rage and pain from his community.

Watch.

Also Read: ‘I’m not a bomb blast bimbo’: What being a journalist in Kabul taught me about Indian media