NWMI condemns exclusion of women journalists from Taliban press meet in Delhi

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) has condemned the exclusion of women journalists from the press conference addressed by Taliban-controlled Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at the Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi on Friday, October 10. 

While India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said it had no role to play in the decision to bar women’s entry to the press conference, the NWMI said it was unfortunate that the Union government did not take a clear stand against the exclusion. “By not making it clear that the exclusion of women journalists from the press conference was not acceptable, the MEA and the Union government have failed to stand by Indian women in general and female working journalists in particular,” a statement from NWMI said. 

The statement also questioned the male journalists who attended the event but did not raise objection to the fact that women journalists were denied entry. 

The NWMI also expressed solidarity with the women of Afghanistan “whose freedom and rights have been severely curtailed under the current regime and who have been almost erased from public life in their own country.”

“Although India has not yet gone as far as Russia has in recognising the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the increasingly positive engagement with the regime reveals a worrisome attitude,” the NWMI said. 

Read the NWMI’s full statement: 

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) strongly condemns the exclusion of women journalists from the press conference held in the Embassy of Afghanistan in Delhi by the country’s Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, on October 10, 2025.

While the embassy is under the jurisdiction of the Afghan government and the nation’s foreign minister is therefore free to conduct it according to his government’s policies,  it is concerning to note that Indian government has not yet criticised, let alone condemned, the discrimination against female working journalists that took place in the nation’s capital – on Indian soil.  Although India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has clarified that it played no role in the controversial press conference, it is unfortunate that it has not made it clear that it does not approve of such exclusion.

Although India has not yet gone as far as Russia has in recognising the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the increasingly positive engagement with the regime reveals a worrisome attitude. The MEA has publicly acknowledged that India has established diplomatic relations with the regime in Afghanistan,  thereby in effect recognising the legitimacy of what the Taliban has officially renamed as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It is well known that since the Taliban came back into power in 2021, the country’s government has imposed harsh restrictions on Afghan women, especially in the public sphere.

The Indian government cannot absolve themselves from the responsibility of upholding the democratic rights and constitutional freedoms of female citizens, including their right to work and  livelihood. By not making it clear that the exclusion of women journalists from the press conference was not acceptable, the MEA and the Union government have failed to stand by Indian women in general and female working journalists in particular, who were subjected to blatant gender discrimination by not being allowed to do their legitimate work during an official event held in the capital city by a guest of the government. 

While the government may have strategic concerns that necessitate engagement with the Taliban and had no direct involvement in organising the press interaction held at the Afghan Embassy, they have a duty to distance themselves from such gender-based discrimination and publicly condemn the Taliban foreign minister’s discriminatory decision to bar women from a press conference held in Delhi.

We in the NWMI also think it is unfortunate that the male journalists who attended the event do not appear to have questioned the fact that their female colleagues were excluded from the press conference, with even those who arrived at the venue denied entry. In moments like these, silence can be seen as complicity in normalising gender discrimination. We would have also liked to see decision-makers in the news media taking a strong stand on this matter. We welcome the critical statements issued by some organisations of media professionals. 

As a network that has stood in solidarity with Afghan women in general and Afghan media women in particular, during their bleakest hours (NWMI Statement on Women Journalists in Afghanistan, NWMI fundraiser, “Journalists for Afghanistan”, and joint report with the the International Federation of Journalists on experiences of Afghan women journalists, “In their Own Words: Afghan Women Journalists Speak”), especially in recent times, we express solidarity with the women of Afghanistan whose freedom and rights have been severely curtailed under the current regime and who have been almost erased from public life in their own country. 

The Network of Women in Media, India

11 October 2025