(MENAFN- Live Mint) Visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held a restricted press conference at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi on Friday, with only a select group of reporters invited, and the notable absence of“women” journalists.

The media interaction came just hours after Muttaqi met with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for wide-ranging talks.

PTI reported that the decision on inviting journalists to the media interaction was taken by Taliban officials accompanying the foreign minister.

People familiar with the matter told PTI that the Indian side had suggested to the Afghan side that women journalists should be part of the invitees for the event.

The Taliban regime in Kabul has faced severe criticism from various countries as well as global bodies like the United Nations for restricting the rights of women in Afghanistan .

Muttaqi deflects when asked about 'Afghan women's rights'

Muttaqi side-stepped a direct question on the plight of women in Afghanistan but said every country has its own customs, laws and principles, and there should be respect for them.

He claimed that the overall situation in the country has improved significantly since the Taliban came to power in August, 2021.

Muttaqi pointed out that some 200 to 400 people died in Afghanistan every day before the Taliban started ruling the country.

Also Read: Women's rights in Afghanistan: What to know about the Taliban and Islamic law

"In these four years, there have been no such losses. Laws are in force and every one has their rights. Those who are engaging in propaganda are making a mistake," he said.

“Every country has its own customs , laws and principles, and works according to those. It is not correct that people are not given their rights. If people were not happy with the system and the laws, why has peace returned?” he said.

Priyanka Gandhi slams PM Modi

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said in a post on X,“Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, please clarify your position on the removal of female journalists from the press conference of the representative of the Taliban on his visit to India. If your recognition of women's rights isn't just convenient posturing from one election to the other, then how has this insult to some of India's most competent women been allowed in our country, a country whose women are its backbone and its pride.”

Former Union Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram expressed shock and disappointment over the exclusion of women journalists from Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's press conference in New Delhi.

He felt that male journalists should have boycotted the event in solidarity with their female colleagues.

"I am shocked that women journalists were excluded from the press conference addressed by Mr Amir Khan Muttaqi of Afghanistan. In my personal view, the men journalists should have walked out when they found that their women colleagues were excluded (or not invited)," he said in a post on X.

Where are the women?

In September, the United Nations urged the Taliban administration in Afghanistan to lift its restrictions on Afghan women working for the UN, warning that continued limitations could jeopardise aid efforts for earthquake survivors and other vulnerable communities.

According to a UN statement, Taliban authorities had stationed security forces outside UN compounds and field offices, barring local female staff from entering.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has enforced a rigid interpretation of Islamic law, drawing widespread international condemnation-particularly over its treatment of women. The regime remains largely isolated on the global stage due to its repressive policies.

Also Read: Afghan man, 45, marries 6-year-old girl; Taliban intervenes, says she 'can join husband when she turns 9'

Afghan women are now barred from most professions, forbidden from traveling without a male guardian, and prohibited from studying beyond the age of 12. They are also banned from visiting parks and gyms.

Afghan women sit next to food aid distributed by a local charity foundation in Ghazni, southeastern Afghanistan, on September 7, 2025. (Photo by Mohammad Faisal NAWEED / AFP)

A recent UN resolution strongly condemned the Taliban's policies, stating it "deplores the institutionalisation of a system of discrimination, segregation, domination, disrespect for human dignity, and exclusion of women and girls."

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues to worsen under the Taliban's hardline gender policies, with severe consequences for women and girls. In July, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity over their systemic persecution of women.

“No skin contact with unrelated males”

When a powerful earthquake struck Afghanistan in early September, rescue efforts were severely hampered by the Taliban's strict gender rules and cultural restrictions, leaving women without aid for more than 36 hours, The New York Times reported.

The Taliban's“no skin contact with unrelated males” rule prohibits male rescuers from physically assisting women, even in life-threatening situations.

An Afghan women and children sit in a makeshift camp in the aftermath of an earthquake, in the Nurgal district of Kunar Province, on September 4, 2025. The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan at the weekend rose sharply to more than 2,200 on September 4, 2025, according to a new toll, making it the deadliest in decades to hit the country. The vast majority of those killed in the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that jolted the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late Sunday were in Kunar province, where 2,205 people died and 3,640 were injured, according to a Taliban government toll. (Photo by AFP)Every country has its own customs, laws and principles, and works according to those.

Under Taliban law, male rescuers are forbidden from making physical contact with women who are not family members, even in emergencies. As a result, many women trapped under rubble were denied or delayed medical assistance.

Also Read: Left trapped under debris, untreated: Afghan women lament Taliban's 'no skin contact with males' rule after earthquake

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