The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) strongly condemns the shameful incident of barring female journalists from attending the press conference of the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Delhi which was to be held on last Friday. This was a disgusting attempt to please the Taliban Minister succumbing to the insulting perspective on women of the Afghanistan government.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where the government has banned girls and women from their basic rights, including being seen in public parks, gymnasiums, mosques, markets and salons. They have also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, barring them from university and high school.
It was only after a massive outrage over the exclusion of women journalists, the press conference was held on Sunday in New Delhi.
This brazen display and acceptance of misogyny is reprehensible with the government of India remaining silent and choosing to concede the anti-women stance of the Taliban Foreign Minister. It is not surprising that the Manuwadi RSS-BJP government agreed to keep women journalists out considering the assaults on women and its anti-women stance during the past ten years of its rule. AIDWA demands that the government apologise for this demeaning female journalists and take action against those responsible for this offence.
