A press conference held by Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in New Delhi on Friday stirred controversy, not for what was said, but because of who was excluded.
Women journalists were not allowed to attend the event, which was limited to a small group of male reporters. The interaction took place at the Afghan Embassy, just hours after Muttaqi met with India’s external affairs minister, S Jaishankar.
The incident drew sharp criticism, as it appeared to reflect the same gender restrictions long enforced under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
According to people familiar with the matter, the list of journalists allowed at the press conference was decided entirely by Taliban officials who were accompanying Muttaqi.
Reports from news agency PTI said that the Indian side had suggested that women reporters should also be invited, but this recommendation was not accepted by the Afghan delegation.
The decision immediately drew political and public backlash in India. Former Union home minister P Chidambaram expressed his shock on social media, saying that male journalists should have refused to participate once they learned that their female colleagues were barred.
“I am shocked that women journalists were excluded from the press conference addressed by Mr. Amir Khan Muttaqi of Afghanistan. In my personal view, the men journalists should have walked out when they found that their women colleagues were excluded,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, also criticized the incident and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance on women’s rights.
She urged the Prime Minister to clarify his position, saying that respect for women’s rights should not be “convenient posturing” during elections.
“Prime Minister @narendramodi ji, please clarify your position on the removal of female journalists from the press conference of the representative of the Taliban on his visit to India,” she wrote on X. “If your recognition of women’s rights isn’t just convenient posturing from one election to another, how has this insult to some of India’s most competent women been allowed in our country — a country whose women are its backbone and its pride?”
The Taliban government in Kabul has faced strong global criticism for restricting women’s rights, banning girls from secondary and higher education, and preventing women from working in many professions or taking part in public life. The United Nations and several human rights groups have condemned these policies, calling them one of the most severe examples of gender discrimination in the world today.
In response to the backlash, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that it had no role in organising or managing the press event. Speaking to news agency ANI, MEA officials said the press interaction was entirely arranged by the Afghan side, and India was not involved in any decisions regarding attendance.
During the press conference, Muttaqi was asked about the situation of women in Afghanistan, but he avoided giving a direct answer. Instead, he said that every country has its own customs and systems that should be respected. “Every country has its own customs, laws, and principles, and there should be respect for them,” he said.
Muttaqi claimed that Afghanistan had become more peaceful since the Taliban took control in August 2021. “Some 200 to 400 people died in Afghanistan every day before the Taliban started ruling the country. In these four years, there have been no such losses. Laws are in force and everyone has their rights,” he said, adding that those accusing the Taliban of oppression were “engaging in propaganda.”
He defended his government’s policies, saying, “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?”