No Directives Against Women Journalists at Taliban FM Muttaqi’s Visit, Clarifies Darul Uloom Deoband

The Darul Uloom Deoband clarified on Saturday (12 October) that women journalists were not barred from covering Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to the seminary, reported The Hindu.

“There were no restrictions from the Afghan Foreign Minister's office about who would attend,” Darul Uloom PRO Ashraf Usmani, who also handled media for Muttaqi’s programme, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI, dismissing claims that women journalists were kept away as "baseless".

The statement comes after controversy erupted over the absence of female reporters at a press conference held by Muttaqi in New Delhi on Friday, which the Opposition called "unacceptable" and an "insult to women."

The Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) also criticised the exclusion, calling it discriminatory and saying it could not be justified under the Vienna Convention.

Usmani said the public event at Darul Uloom Deoband, scheduled for Saturday (11 October), was cancelled at the last moment due to “overcrowding” and “security reasons.”

He added, “Though the programme was called off due to overcrowding, the presence of a couple of women journalists for the Afghanistan minister's event was enough to rebut reports of women journalists being made to keep away from the event,” and named the news channels they represented.

“Various things were doing the rounds, from women journalists not being allowed to them being made to sit separately. All of this was baseless,” said Usmani.

He confirmed that seating arrangements for female reporters had been made alongside their male counterparts, with no 'purdah' at the venue.

Maulana Arshad Madani, president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, added, “It was a coincidence that yesterday's press conference was attended only by men. The Afghan Foreign Minister had not said no to women coming to the press conference. It was wrong and propaganda.”

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