NEW DELHI, OCT 11 : Amid sharp criticism from opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, over the exclusion of female journalists from a Taliban press conference in Delhi on Friday, the government on Saturday clarified that it had no role in the event addressed by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clarifying on record, official sources said, \u201cThe Ministry of External Affairs had no involvement in the press interaction held yesterday by the Afghan foreign minister in Delhi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No women journalist was present at the press conference addressed by Muttaqi, triggering widespread criticism over the Taliban\u2019s gender bias this time on Indian soil. Photographs from the event showed Taliban leaders addressing a men-only presser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OPPOSITION SLAMS GOVERNMENT OVER PRESSER ROW<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue. \u201cMr 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,\u201d he wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slamming the PM over his Nari Shakti slogan for woman empowerment, the Leader of the Opposition added, \u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also posted on X, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, \u201cPrime Minister Narendra Modi 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your recognition of women\u2019s rights isn\u2019t just a convenient posturing from one election to the other, then how has this insult to some of India\u2019s most competent women been allowed in our country, a country whose women are its backbone and its pride\u201d, Gandhi added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The press interaction followed meetings between Muttaqi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, where the two leaders discussed bilateral trade, humanitarian assistance, and security cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also lashed out at the government, saying, \u201cThe government has dishonoured every single Indian woman by allowing the Taliban minister to exclude women journalists from the presser. Shameful bunch of spineless hypocrites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh echoed the criticism, posting, \u201c(Tali)ban on female journalists in India. Shocking and unacceptable that the Government of India agreed to it and that too in New Delhi on the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TALIBAN’S HISTORY OF GENDER RESTRICTIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Taliban, the current ruling power in Afghanistan, is known for its misogynistic policies towards Afghan women. Infamous for suppressing women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan, it has imposed severe restrictions on women, barring them from education, employment, and other public spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July, the UN also raised alarm over the \u201cgrave, worsening, widespread and systematic oppression\u201d of all women and girls in Afghanistan, calling on the Taliban to swiftly reverse policies that exclude them from education, employment and public life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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