New Delhi: TV actress Nupur Alankar recently spoke about her brother-in-law Kaushal Agarwal being stuck in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and how he is surviving the political turmoil that is unravelling in the country.
A leading daily reported that Kaushal, Nupur’s sister’s husband, was supposed to return to India on August 15, however, due to the Taliban overtaking the Ghani government, he couldn’t.
In a phone interview with ETimes, Kaushal described his situation in the war-torn country. He said, “It’s a very scary situation here. When I reached Kabul on July 16, it wasn’t bad and nobody expected things to spiral out of control in such a short span. My original plan was to return to India on August 15, but since I hadn’t finished my work, I went to the Indian embassy for an extension of my visa till August 30.”
At the moment, the actress’ brother-in-law has taken refuge in his friend’s office. In the interview, he revealed that there are many power cuts throughout the day, and water shortages which means they can only shower once in three days.
He further said, “I charge my mobile phone by using the car battery. They have instructed all mobile network providers to stop the connection from 6 pm to 6 am. So, I can make calls only before and after that. The Taliban can be seen patrolling the streets of Kandahar and it is unnerving. I am stuck here and all I want to do is return to India and be with my family. I have mailed a request to the Indian embassy, but there is no reply from them yet. My calls to their office have gone unanswered. I will have to go to Kabul to take a flight to India, but the worry right now is how do I get there?”
Commenting on the tense situation, Nupur told ETimes that she and her family did get a chance to contact him. She revealed, “He tries to assure us that he is safe, we are in a state of panic. When I last spoke to him, he said, ‘Abhi tak toh safe hoon, aage dekhte hain’. We are constantly praying for his safety and hoping that he returns soon. I remember how when he had just landed there, he would tell us about the local cuisine and clothes… Things changed drastically in a month’s time!”
Nupur Alankar is best known for her roles in shows such as Pran Jaaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye, Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, Swaragini and Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?…Ek Baar Phir.