Aditya Raj Kaul, a journalist with India’s NDTV network, announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that during a press conference held by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, no female journalists were allowed to enter the conference hall.
According to Kaul, he raised the issue with the security personnel stationed at the embassy entrance, but they blocked the entry of female reporters, saying that the order had come directly from Amir Khan Muttaqi himself.
This incident occurred as Muttaqi was on an official visit to India, where he held meetings with officials from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He described the purpose of his visit as an effort to “expand diplomatic and economic relations between Kabul and New Delhi.”
The Taliban’s decision to ban female journalists from attending an official press event on Indian soil has sparked outrage among Indian journalists and media activists.
Several reporters took to social media, condemning the move as a blatant violation of press freedom and an insult to women journalists, calling on the Indian government to ensure that “human rights and media standards” are upheld when hosting Taliban officials.
The Taliban have not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident.
