Modi govt comes under criticism as women journalists barred from Muttaqi’s presser

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government came under heavy criticism after women journalists were reportedly denied entry to Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s press conference in New Delhi.

Muttaqi is on a six-day visit after getting a temporary exemption on his travel ban by UN Security Council (UNSC) Committee. It was the first such trip to India by an Afghan Taliban leader since 2021.

India, a day earlier, upgraded ties with Afghanistan's Taliban administration, giving a boost to the diplomatically isolated group, by announcing it would reopen its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

During the visit, the visiting foreign minister held a press conference at the Afghanistan embassy in Delhi, wherein the women journalists were stopped by the security staff and Delhi Police officials from attending the event despite multiple requests.

Opposition parties condemned the Modi administration for its silence over the exclusion of women reporters from the high-profile event, calling it an “insult to every Indian woman”.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said women have the right to equal participation in every field, adding that the incident sends a message that Modi is “too weak to stand up for their rights.”

"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," he wrote on X.

"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 [woman power]," he added.

Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi demanded that the Modi government clarify its position on the issue.

"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," she asked.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram also criticised the media’s handling of the event, saying male journalists present at the briefing “should have walked out in protest.”

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra went further, slamming the government for “disgracing every Indian woman” through its complicity. “By allowing such discrimination on Indian soil, the Modi regime has surrendered the country’s dignity,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs distanced itself from the controversy, claiming it had “no role” in the arrangements for the event.

According to the ministry, the invites for the press meet went to select journalists from Afghanistan's Consul General in Mumbai who were stationed in Delhi for the Afghan minister's visit. The Afghan Embassy territory does not come under the jurisdiction of the Indian government, it pointed out.