New Delhi- The opposition on Saturday termed the absence of female journalists from a press conference of visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi“unacceptable” and an“insult to women”, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the“emptiness” of his slogans on Nari Shakti.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Modi over the absence of female journalists from the presser, saying by allowing“exclusion” of women scribes from a public forum, the prime minister is telling every woman in India that he is“too weak to stand up for them”.

Gandhi also said that Modi's silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the“emptiness” of his slogans on Nari Shakti.

In a post on X, Gandhi said,“Mr. Modi, when you allow the exclusion of women journalists from a public forum, you are telling every woman in India that you are too weak to stand up for them.”

“In our country, women have the right to equal participation in every space. Your silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the emptiness of your slogans on Nari Shakti,” the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said if the prime minister's recognition of women's rights isn't just convenient posturing from one election to the other, how has this“insult to some of India's most competent women been allowed in our country”.

The Congress said it was shocking and unacceptable that the government of India agreed to the“ban on female journalists” at the presser in Delhi.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said,“(Tali)ban on female journalists in India. Shocking and unacceptable that the Govt of India agreed to it - and that too in New Delhi on the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child.”

Priyanka Gandhi asked Modi to clarify his position on the absence of women journalists from Muttaqi's press conference, and described the incident as an“insult to some of India's most competent women”.

“Prime Minister @narendramodi 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,” she said on X.

“If your recognition of women's rights isn't just convenient posturing from one election to the other, 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,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

The press conference addressed by Muttaqi on Friday saw participation restricted to a handful of reporters, while women journalists were conspicuous by their absence.

Muttaqi held the interaction at the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, hours after holding wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

It is learnt that the decision on inviting journalists to the media interaction was taken by Taliban officials accompanying the foreign minister.

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

In a post on X, former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said,“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),” Chidambaram said.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also slammed the government on the issue.

“The government has dishonoured every single Indian woman by allowing the Taliban minister to exclude women journalists from his presser. Shameful bunch of spineless hypocrites,” she said on X.

Another Trinamool MP, Sagarika Ghose, claimed the Narendra Modi government again“reveals its failure to evolve a foreign policy in which engagement is separated from endorsement”.

“Women journalists being excluded from the #Taliban press conference in Delhi is UNACCEPTABLE and HATEFUL. This is not oh-so-smart 'geostrategic diplomacy', it is a surrender by the weak, failed Narendra Modi coalition government,” she said on X.

RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said that by not allowing women journalists to attend the press conference of the Taliban foreign minister, India has compromised its own moral and diplomatic standing.

“This is not just a procedural lapse but a symbolic surrender of India's long-cherished commitment to equality, freedom of the press, and gender justice.

“For a country that has prided itself on being the world's largest democracy and a champion of women's participation in every sphere, this incident is deeply disappointing and politically short-sighted,” Jha said in a post on X.

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