WEB DESK: A few days ago, news was abuzz about Taliban officials representing the current government of Afghanistan visited India, renewing their relationship as the world witnesses a jarring shift in geopolitics. But while Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held his first press conference in Delhi, with no women in plain sight, there was an uproar in the journalist fraternity at the neat gender bifurcation, which is not alien to the Taliban regime.
On Monday, however, the protest by women journalists led to the turn tables as a picture in papers told a story more powerful than any headline with Muttaqi facing a row of female Indian journalists at his Delhi press conference.
The Press Club of India strongly condemns the exclusion of women journalists from the first press conference hosted by representatives of the Taliban in India. pic.twitter.com/y5spOgfbRL
— Press Club of India (@PCITweets) October 13, 2025
Just 48 hours earlier, those same women had been barred from attending his first media interaction at the Afghan embassy, a move that triggered outrage across India’s political and media circles. Opposition leaders, journalist associations, and women’s groups slammed the exclusion as “blatant gender discrimination” carried out on Indian soil.
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Under fire, Muttaqi’s team hastily called a second “inclusive” press meet on Sunday, insisting the earlier omission had been “unintentional” and merely a “technical issue.” But the optics were unmistakable: in a country where the Taliban’s policies on women have been widely condemned as “gender apartheid,” the sight of Indian women journalists questioning a Taliban minister sent a striking message.
My heart swells with pride for my sisters who fought to enter press conference by Taliban and made them yield.
India has a thousand problems but we still have many fearless women journalists covering the toughest stories in the country and the world.
PC @sidhant pic.twitter.com/OR2uSc16Y1— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) October 12, 2025
Facing tough questions, Muttaqi defended his government’s record, claiming that “education for women is only postponed, not banned,” and that millions of Afghan girls still study in madrassas. His remarks drew scepticism, given the Taliban’s sweeping bans on girls’ secondary and university education since 2021.
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While his answers offered little reassurance, the moment itself carried symbolic weight. The second press conference, prompted by public backlash and possibly quiet diplomatic pressure, forced a rare concession from the Taliban’s top envoy.
Afghan women taking the initiative against the Taliban
For many, the image of women in the front row was more than just a photo-op; it was a quiet but potent act of defiance, a reminder that visibility itself can be resistance.