The Taliban Minister meets with Indian women journalists after outrage

It is often said that a picture can speak a thousand words.

The one in the Indian newspapers on Monday morning showing women’s journalists who occupy the front row of the press conference of the Foreign Minister of the Afghan Taliban in Delhi, is certainly one of them.

Conference – The second event of the Amina Han Mutaki press at the Afghan Embassy after about 48 hours – was called after Huge confusion over the exclusion of women from his first meeting on Friday.

Muttaqi told the conference on Sunday that the exclusion is involuntary and not “deliberate”.

“With regard to the press conference (Friday), it was shortly and a short list of journalists was resolved and the list of participation that was presented was very specific.

“It was a more technical problem soon … Our colleagues had decided to send an invitation to a specific list of journalists and there was no other intention besides,” he added.

The UN cited the situation in Afghanistan such as Paul Apartheid, where women and girls are not allowed to attend high school or university, attend parks or gyms. The jobs they are allowed to do are increasingly restricted and the Taliban government imposes covers from head to toe and restricts their journey.

The Taliban Government, which adopted power in 2021, has earned it in accordance with respecting women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law, but Western diplomats have said that their attempts to gain are impeded by women’s curbs. The suppression of women’s rights, according to their rule, is the most ravine in the world.

Muttaqi Arrived in India on Thursday For a week at a high level of talk with the government from Russia, the only country so far that fully recognizes its government.

Delhi has not officially recognized the actual rulers of Afghanistan, but this is one of a number of countries that maintain some form of diplomatic or informal relations with them, even maintaining a small mission in Kabul and sending humanitarian assistance there.

The visit is seen as an increase in relations between the parties and is crucial for both – the Taliban government receives impetus in its pursuit of recognition, while India progresses its strategic and security of interests. On Friday, Muttaqi met with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who announced that India would reopen its embassy in Kabul, which was closed after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

About 16 male reporters were present at the press of the event, while female journalists were rejected by the gates of the embassy.

A source in the Taliban government acknowledged that women were not invited to attend.

The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) said it “did not participate in the interaction in the press” as it was held at the Afghan Embassy.

But discrimination against the gender of Indian soil was angry with politicians and journalists who criticized the government for letting it happen.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said that by allowing the event to move forward, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi “tells every woman in India that you are too weak to defend them.”

The Guild of India’s Editors, the Indian Women’s Corps (IWPC) and the Network of Women in the Media, India (NWMI) have issued strong statements, calling the exclusion “highly discriminatory”.

“While diplomatic premises can claim protection under the Vienna Convention, this cannot justify the screaming gender discrimination in the access to the press of Indian soil,” the guild said.

“Whether the MEA coordinates the event or not, it is deeply worried that such discriminatory exclusion was allowed to continue without objection,” he adds.

Nwmi said The Indian government was “the Indian government’s responsibility to maintain the democratic rights and constitutional freedoms of women, including their right to work and livelihoods,” and that they should question such “shouting discrimination between gender.”

The group also criticized male journalists who attended the conference on Friday that they did not advocate for their colleagues from women. “In times like these silence can be seen as complicity in normalizing gender discrimination,” the statement said.

Against the backdrop of increasing outrage in India, the Muttaqi team sent new invitations to the interaction on Sunday, describing it as an “inclusive” event open to all media officials.

It is not clear what led to the second meeting in the press – although there is no formal confirmation, there are some speculation that the Indian government may have intervened.

The conference was well attended and the minister was asked some difficult questions about the reason for the prevention of women from the Friday meeting – and the rights of Afghan girls and women.

“We have 10 million students in schools and institutes, including over 2.8 million women and girls. In Madrassas, education continues until graduation,” Muttaqi replied. “There are some restrictions, but we have never declared the education of women religiously haram (forbidden), it is only delayed to a further order,” he said.

Many journalists who attended the press conference have asked the minister’s claim, pointing out the restrictions that the Taliban imposes on girls and women from 2021.

In the last four years, girls over the age of 12 have been banned from gaining education and women’s job opportunities have been seriously restricted. In recent weeks the Taliban government also Removed books written by women from universities in Afghanistan.

The Minister’s response to subsequent questions about women’s rights in Afghanistan may not be satisfactory. But, as some journalists have pointed out, the mere fact that the second press conference has been organized and that the minister has asked gender issues can be considered as progress.