Afghan Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen on Saturday defended the move of excluding women journalists from attending Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s press conference in New Delhi as “unintentional”.
“There is no discriminatory policy against women. The number of passes was limited; some received them, some did not. It was a technical matter and should not be viewed as a policy issue,” Shaheen told News18 India.
He claimed Muttaqi often meets female journalists in his office in Kabul.
“Muttaqi meets women in his office in Kabul regularly. I myself do interviews with female journalists,” Shaheen told News18 India.
“There is no such thing that this is an intentional act to exclude women from the briefing. However, there were male journalists who were not able to get pass to participate in the briefing,” the spokesperson for the Taliban regime further added and highlighted a shortage of passes as well.
Women journalists and a section of opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, have voiced their discontent over the issue.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday targeted the Centre after no women journalists were allowed to attend the press conference held by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi, and said PM Narendra Modi’s silence in the face of such discrimination “exposes the emptiness of your slogans on Nari Shakti”.
In his X post, Gandhi said: “Mr. Modi, when you allow the exclusion of women journalists from a public forum, you are telling every woman in India that you are too weak to stand up for them.”
“In our country, women have the right to equal participation in every space. Your silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the emptiness of your slogans on Nari Shakti,” he said.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked Modi to clarify his position on the issue.
“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 said.
She further said: “If your recognition of women’s rights isn’t just convenient posturing from one election to the other, then 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?”
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi triggered a controversy on Friday after no women journalists were allowed to attend his press conference at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, drawing sharp criticism from Indian opposition leaders.
Muttaqi, who arrived in India this week on his first visit since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday. The two discussed India’s development assistance to Afghanistan, trade, and regional stability.
However, his subsequent media interaction on Friday drew criticism after women reporters were barred from attending, NDTV reported.
