It is often said that a picture can tell a thousand words.
An article published in an Indian newspaper on Monday morning showing female journalists sitting in the front row at the press conference of the Afghan Taliban foreign minister in Delhi is certainly one of them.
The meeting, which was Amir Khan Muttaki’s second press conference at the Afghan embassy in about 48 hours, was called after an uproar over the exclusion of women from the first meeting on Friday.
Muttaqi said at Sunday’s meeting that the exclusion was unintentional and not “deliberate.”
He continued, “The press conference (Friday) was held in a hurry, the list of reporters was decided, and the list of participants presented was also very specific.
“It was more of a technical issue. Our colleagues decided to send invitations to a specific list of journalists and had no other intention other than this,” he added.
The United Nations has described the situation in Afghanistan as ‘gender apartheid’, where women and girls are not allowed to attend secondary schools or universities or visit parks or gyms. The jobs they can do are increasingly limited, and the Taliban government enforces head-to-toe covering laws and restricts travel.
The Taliban government, which returned to power in 2021, has previously said it respects women’s rights according to Afghan culture and its interpretation of Islamic law, but Western diplomats have said its attempts to gain recognition have been hampered by restrictions on women. The suppression of women’s rights under their rule is the most severe in the world.
Mutaki arrived in India on Thursday for a week of high-level talks with Russia, the only country so far to fully recognize his government.
Delhi has not officially recognized Afghanistan’s de facto ruler but is one of many countries that maintain some form of diplomatic and informal ties with Afghanistan, even sending a small mission to Kabul and sending humanitarian aid there.
The visit is seen as a strengthening of relations between the two countries and is key for both countries. The Taliban government steps up efforts to gain recognition and India to advance its strategic and security interests. On Friday, Prime Minister Muttaki met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and announced that India would reopen the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which was closed after the Taliban came to power in 2021.
About 16 male reporters attended the press conference held this afternoon, and female reporters were kicked out of the embassy’s main gate.
Taliban government sources acknowledged that the women were not invited to attend.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that since the event was held at the Afghan embassy, it was “not involved in any media exchanges.”
But gender discrimination on Indian soil has angered politicians and journalists who criticize the government for neglecting it.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said that by allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go ahead with the event, he was “telling all the women of India that you are too weak to stand up for them.”
The Editors’ Guild of India, Indian Women Journalists (IWPC) and Network of Indian Women’s Media (NWMI) issued a strong statement calling the exclusion “highly discriminatory”.
“While the diplomatic establishment may claim protection under the Vienna Convention, it cannot justify blatant gender discrimination in media access on Indian soil,” the guild said.
He added, “Whether or not the MEA coordinated this event, it is very concerning that this discriminatory exclusion proceeded without objection.”
“It is the responsibility of the Indian government to uphold the democratic rights and constitutional freedoms of its female citizens, including their right to work and livelihood,” the NWMI said. “This blatant gender discrimination should have been questioned.”
The group also accused male journalists attending Friday’s conference of not representing their female colleagues. “In moments like these, silence can be seen as complicity in normalizing gender discrimination,” the statement said.
Amid growing outrage in India, Muttaqi’s team sent out fresh invitations for Sunday’s interaction, describing it as an “inclusive” event open to all media personnel.
It is unclear what prompted the second press conference. There has been speculation that the Indian government may have been involved, although there has been no official confirmation.
The meeting was well attended and the minister was asked some tough questions about the reasons for excluding women from Friday’s meeting and the rights of Afghan girls and women.
Muttaqi responded, “We have 10 million students, including over 2.8 million women and girls, in our schools and institutions. In madrassas, education continues until graduation.” “There are some limitations, but we have never declared women’s education to be religiously haram (forbidden), it has only been postponed until further orders,” he said.
Many journalists attending the press conference questioned the minister’s claims, pointing to restrictions imposed by the Taliban on girls and women from 2021.
For the past four years, girls over the age of 12 have been denied access to education and women’s career options have been severely limited. In recent weeks, the Taliban government has also removed books written by women from Afghan universities.
The Minister’s response to a follow-up question about women’s rights in Afghanistan may have been unsatisfactory. However, as some journalists pointed out, the fact that the second press conference was held and the minister was asked questions about gender issues can itself be considered progress.
