By: Simran Sodhi, Guest Author, GSDN
The visit of the Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India, has been an opportunity for India to re-define relations with the Taliban regime, who have been in control of Afghanistan since 2021. For India it was a strategic outreach to a regime that they have yet to officially recognize. But the optics of the visit turned into something else.
It all began with the Taliban minister holding a press conference in the Afghan embassy in New Delhi where only male journalists were invited. To make matters worse, some female journalists who wanted to cover the press interaction were turned away from the embassy gates. This led to a sharp critique of the Taliban regime, who many felt were trying to impose their regressive views about women in India. While the Indian government stated that it had nothing to do with this press interaction, the optics nevertheless sparked an outrage. The image of only male journalists sitting around the table with the Taliban foreign minister saw social media break out in an angry storm. It was not only the women in Indian media who were outraged, but women from all walks of life were, rightfully, livid.
Two days after the all-male press interaction, the Taliban minister held another interaction where women journalists were also invited. People in the know indicate that it was the Indian government that intervened for this second presser. The press conference also saw the Taliban minister getting some tough questions from the women present regarding women’s education and their rights in Afghanistan. In response, Muttaqi, a UN-sanctioned leader and senior minister in the Taliban regime, claimed that education of girls and women was not “haram”, or forbidden under laws governing Islam, and has only been postponed until the next order of the country’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Muttaqi also, during the press interaction, said that the exclusion of women from the first press conference was a “technical issue” and that their list for “selected journalists” had been curated at a short notice. However, the world has watched in dismay as the Taliban have driven women out of public life in Afghanistan and how basic rights like education are being denied to girls and women.
According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report of 2024, “There is broad consensus that the situation in Afghanistan is the most serious women’s rights crisis in the world. The country is ranked last on the Women, Peace and Security Index and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan has referred to ‘the unprecedented deterioration of women’s rights.’ Afghan women—and officials at the UN and elsewhere—have called it ‘gender apartheid.’ Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago, there may never have been anything like it—except once, from 1996 to 2001 when the Taliban previously controlled Afghanistan.”
It is significant here to point out that the second press interaction was a much-needed course correction. Since the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan, women have been totally excluded from the public sphere. In fact, Afghanistan today is the only country in the world where girls and women have been denied their basic rights, including being seen in public parks, gymnasiums, mosques, markets and salons. So, while the first presser kind of re-enforced their outlook on women, the second press interaction was a clear signal that this would not be tolerated in other countries.
For India specifically, while geopolitics would dictate closer ties with the Taliban, there should be no compromise on the basic values that India respects and follows. One of the most basic rights is then gender equality. The Indian Constitution guarantees that right to Indian women and every foreign entity ought to respect that on Indian soil.
The one lesson for all going forward is that women today, supported by many of their male colleagues, in many spheres of life are not okay with being discriminated against. Even in delicate, diplomatic situations like what one witnessed during the Taliban minister’s visit, respect for a woman’s dignity and rights cannot be ignored. It is a strong statement that India and its women have sent out and the message has reverberated globally. Some can argue that this is unlikely to get the Taliban to change. But that would be missing the point. Allowing anyone to ignore women in a secular, democratic society is unacceptable, is the message here. And it was heard loud and clear.
About the Author
Simran Sodhi is a Delhi-based journalist and foreign affairs analyst. She holds a Masters in International Relations from the American University in Washington DC. In 2009, her book ‘Piercing the Heart- Untold Stories of 26/11’ was published. She has written for a number of leading national and international publications. She tweets at @Simransodhi9
