Centre denies involvement as row erupts over exclusion of women journalists at Taliban press conference in Delhi

New Delhi: India on Saturday stated that it had “no role to play” in the press conference held by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi, which drew criticism due to the absence of women journalists.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that invitations to the press event were sent by Afghanistan’s Consul General in Mumbai to selected journalists based in Delhi for the Afghan minister’s visit. The Afghan Embassy’s premises are outside Indian government jurisdiction, NDTV reported quoting the MEA.

The press conference took place on Friday at the Afghan Embassy, where no women journalists were present. Reports indicated that some female reporters were even prevented from attending. Following the event, many journalists voiced their disapproval on social media, noting that all women present had adhered to the prescribed dress code.

Several Opposition leaders have raised questions about the Centre’s stance on the exclusion of women at the event.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify his position, condemning the insult faced by some of India’s most capable women in a country where women are considered the backbone and pride of the nation.

Meanwhile, the banning of the women journalists had led to a massive backlash on social media.

Muttaqi arrived in the capital on Thursday and held talks with EAM Jaishankar, where they held discussions on India’s support for Afghanistan’s development, bilateral trade, territorial integrity and people-to-people ties and capacity-building, besides several other issues.

However, the press conference by Muttaqi held later at 3.30 p.m. at the Afghan Embassy was not open to a wider media fraternity, and excluded women journalists too.

Despite being a significant diplomatic engagement, especially given New Delhi’s cautious stand on the Taliban, wherein EAM Jaishankar announced India’s upgradation of the Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy, most journalists were neither notified nor given access.

The Afghan Embassy in Delhi continues to be run by Charge d’Affaires Mohammad Ibrahim Khil from the erstwhile Ashraf Ghani administration, while consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are already under Taliban control.

Journalists who did not wish to be named and attended this press interaction told IANS that they were informed about this press conference only in the morning.

Similarly, questions have also emerged over the restrictive media access given to journalists, as only 15-16 media personnel attended this conference.

According to the information, Taliban official Ikramuddin Kamil, who heads the Afghanistan’s Mumbai Consulate since last year, reached out to these selected journalists himself via phone and gave them the informal invitation.

Similarly, women journalists have also expressed their anger at female reporters not getting any invite.

The selective outreach, along with the cherry-picking of journalists by Muttaqi’s media team, has sparked criticism within Press circles, who argue that restricting coverage of such a crucial development undermines transparency and prevents wider media scrutiny of India’s evolving engagement with the Taliban leadership.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan is known for the restrictions it imposes on women, especially barring them from working.

Recently, it even banned books authored by women in Afghan universities and dropped 18 courses, including Gender and Development, Women’s Sociology, Human Rights, Afghan Constitutional Law, and Globalisation and Development.

IANS