\u2022 Taliban foreign minister claims omission of women journalists from his first media interaction was \u2018unintentional\u2019
\n\u2022 UN terms Afghan restrictions on women \u2018gender apartheid\u2019
\n\u2022 India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs denies any role in Friday\u2019s press interaction at Afghan embassy<\/p>\n
A PICTURE is worth a thousand words \u2014 and the image splashed across Indian newspapers on Monday, showing female journalists seated prominently in the front row at the Taliban foreign minister\u2019s press conference in Delhi, perfectly embodies that sentiment.<\/p>\n
The conference \u2014 Amir Khan Muttaqi\u2019s second press event at the Afghan embassy within 48 hours \u2014 was convened following widespread outrage over the exclusion of female journalists from his initial briefing on Friday, BBC News reported.<\/p>\n
Mr Muttaqi said at Sunday\u2019s conference that the exclusion was unintentional and not \u201cdeliberate\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith regard to the [Friday\u2019s] press conference, it was on short notice and a short list of journalists was decided, and the participation list that was presented was very specific.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more a technical issue\u2026 Our colleagues had decided to send an invitation to a specific list of journalists and there was no other intention apart from this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The UN has described the situation in Afghanistan as a form of \u201cgender apartheid,\u201d where women and girls are barred from secondary and higher education, prohibited from visiting parks and gyms, and face growing restrictions on employment. The Taliban government also enforces strict dress codes and limits their freedom of movement.<\/p>\n
The Taliban, who regained power in 2021, maintain that they uphold women\u2019s rights in line with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law. However, Western diplomats say the severe restrictions on women have hindered the group\u2019s efforts to gain international recognition. The curbs on women\u2019s freedoms are widely regarded as the harshest in the world.<\/p>\n
Mr Muttaqi had arrived in India on Thursday for a week of high-level talks with the government from Russia, the only country so far to fully recognise their government.<\/p>\n
New Delhi has not officially recognised Afghanistan\u2019s de facto rulers but, like several other countries, continues to maintain limited diplomatic engagement \u2014 operating a small mission in Kabul and providing humanitarian assistance to the country.<\/p>\n
The visit is viewed as a significant step in strengthening ties between the two sides \u2014 offering the Taliban a boost in their pursuit of international recognition, while allowing India to advance its strategic and security objectives.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Mr Muttaqi met Foreign Minister S Jaishankar who announced that India would reopen its embassy in Kabul which was shut after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.<\/p>\n
The press event later in the day was attended by around 16 male reporters while female journalists were turned away from the embassy gates.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that it \u201chad no role\u201d in organising the press interaction, noting that it took place at the Afghan embassy.<\/p>\n
However, the exclusion of female journalists on Indian soil sparked strong criticism from politicians and media circles, who faulted the government for allowing it. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said that by permitting the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was \u201csending a message to every woman in India that she is too weak to be defended.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 Taliban foreign minister claims omission of women journalists from his first media interaction was \u2018unintentional\u2019 \u2022 UN terms Afghan restrictions on women \u2018gender apartheid\u2019 \u2022 India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs denies any role in Friday\u2019s press interaction at Afghan embassy A PICTURE is worth a thousand words \u2014 and the image splashed across Indian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12671,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12669\/revisions\/12671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}