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Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday, October 11, slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the discrimination of Indian women journalists who were denied access to a press conference held by Taliban-controlled Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi said that by permitting such exclusion, the Prime Minister has displayed his weakness.
“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 said, and added that the Prime Minister’s silence exposed the hollowness of his “Nari Shakti” slogan.
“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,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also condemned the incident, calling it an insult to Indian women journalists.
“If your recognition of women’s rights isn’t just convenient posturing from one election to the next, then how was this humiliation of some of India’s most competent women allowed in our country — a country whose women are its backbone and its pride?” she asked.
The controversy erupted after several women journalists took to social media saying that they were not invited to the press conference. Images shared by Hafiz Zia Ahmad, director of public communication at Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry, confirmed that it was an all-male gathering.
Journalist Nayanima Basu questioned how such discrimination was permitted “right under the Indian government’s nose.” “How can this be allowed? Who approved such an outrageous disregard for representation?” asked author and journalist Nayanima Basu.
Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor of The Hindu, said the government had allowed the Taliban to “bring their abhorrent and illegal discrimination against women to India,” while extending full official protocol to the visiting delegation.
The Taliban, which adheres to an ultra-conservative interpretation of Deobandi Islam, has long faced international criticism for its harsh treatment of women and minorities. Since returning to power in August 2021, the regime has banned girls’ education beyond class six, barred women from most jobs and public spaces, and prohibited NGOs from employing Afghan women.