After backlash, Afghan foreign minister invites women journalists to fresh press meet

After drawing flak for barring women journalists from his earlier press conference, visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has now scheduled another media interaction on Sunday (October 12), this time extending invitations to female reporters as well, according to sources.

Also read | Priyanka Gandhi slams ban on women journalists at Taliban event, asks PM Modi to clarify

Muttaqi, who arrived in New Delhi on Thursday for a week-long visit, faced severe backlash on Friday after reports emerged that women journalists were barred from attending his previous press meet.

The incident triggered outrage among media and rights organisations, who accused the Taliban representative of discriminatory conduct and undermining press freedom.

Media bodies slam gender bias

The Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) on Saturday criticised the exclusion of women journalists from Muttaqi’s earlier press conference in Delhi, calling it “highly discriminatory and unjustifiable.” Both organisations said the decision to bar women journalists could not be justified on any grounds, including diplomatic privilege under the Vienna Convention.

In a statement, the Guild said, “While diplomatic premises may claim protection under the Vienna Convention, that cannot justify blatant gender discrimination in press access on Indian soil.” The IWPC urged the Indian government to raise the issue with the Afghan Embassy to ensure such exclusion does not recur.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), however, clarified that it had “no involvement" in the event. “The MEA had no role in the press interaction held on Friday by the Afghan FM in Delhi,” officials said.

The Guild responded that “whether or not the MEA coordinated the event, it is deeply troubling that such a discriminatory exclusion was allowed to proceed without objection.”

Opposition flays Modi’s silence

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the absence of female journalists from the presser, saying by allowing “exclusion” of women scribes from a public forum, the prime minister is telling every woman in India that he is “too weak to stand up for them”.

In a post on X, Rahul 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.”

Also read | India had 'no role' in barring women journalists in Mattaqi's presser: MEA

“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,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose claimed the Modi government again “reveals its failure to evolve a foreign policy in which engagement is separated from endorsement”. RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said that by not allowing women journalists to attend the press conference of the Taliban foreign minister, India has compromised its own moral and diplomatic standing.