Taliban Foreign Minister's Delhi Press Meet Excludes Women Journalists

New Delhi: Women journalists were expressly prohibited from attending the media briefing of the visiting Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is on a first-ever trip by a Taliban foreign minister to India.

The Afghan foreign minister held talks with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Friday (October 10) afternoon, following which he held a media briefing at the Afghan embassy premises in central Delhi.

Invitations for the briefing were extended to around 17 media outlets, all of which were represented by male journalists.

A couple of women journalists even waited outside the gates of the embassy but were not allowed inside.

When this reporter asked an Afghan diplomat about attending the event, the response was that “all seats are full”. However, photographs from the venue showed several empty chairs in the conference hall.

The exclusion sparked strong reactions from women journalists covering the diplomatic beat, who questioned how such discrimination was allowed to take place in India.

This is believed to be the first instance of women reporters being actively barred from covering a foreign government's event in the country.

While Iran requires women to cover their hair, its embassy in Delhi has not imposed similar restrictions during press interactions.

There was no response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on whether it was aware of the discrimination.

However, officials claimed that neither the Indian side had been consulted nor could it have taken any action as the press conference was held inside the Afghan embassy.

It is not clear why the MEA, which is well aware of the Taliban's discriminatory policies towards women, did not stipulate to the visiting delegation in advance that there be no public events that violate Indian constitutional norms.

Since coming to power in 2021, the Taliban has increasingly imposed restrictions on women's education, mobility and employment. It has banned girls from going to high school and women from universities.

After the Taliban took over, India had been vocal about the rights of women and minorities.

“The world cannot look the other way when the rights of women and minorities are being trampled upon. There has been an increasing attempt towards removing women from public life in Afghanistan,” India said in the UN Security Council in October 2022.

However, there was no mention of the rights of women – or minorities – either in Jaishankar's public remarks or in the joint statement.

During the press conference, no question was raised about the absence of women journalists.

Responding to a question on restrictions on Afghan women's access to education, Muttaqi said peace and security had returned to Afghanistan.

“Every country has its own customs, laws and principles, and works according to those. It is not correct that people are not given their rights. If people were not happy with the system and the laws, why has peace returned?” he said.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.