Amir Khan Muttaqi (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: A press conference by Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi on Friday drew attention not for what was said, but for who wasn’t in the room. Women journalists were notably missing from the event, which was attended by only a limited number of reporters.The interaction, held at the Afghan Embassy just hours after Muttaqi’s talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar, appeared to mirror the gender restrictions long criticised under the Taliban regime.According to people familiar with the matter, the decision on which journalists would be invited was made by Taliban officials accompanying Muttaqi. The Indian side, news agency PTI reported, had suggested that women reporters should also be included among the invitees, a recommendation that was evidently not accepted.Former Union home minister P Chidambaram expressed shock over the incident, saying “men journalists should have walked out when they found that their women colleagues were excluded”.“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 wrote on X.The Taliban government in Kabul has faced sustained global condemnation, including from the United Nations, for its curbs on women’s rights, education, and participation in public life.When asked about the condition of women in Afghanistan, Muttaqi sidestepped the question. Instead, he maintained that each country had its own systems and values that should be respected.“Every country has its own customs, laws and principles, and there should be respect for them,” he said.Muttaqi claimed that Afghanistan’s situation had improved since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, contrasting current conditions with the years before.“Some 200 to 400 people died in Afghanistan every day before Taliban started ruling the country,” he said. “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,” Muttaqi claimed.Defending his government’s record, he added: “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?”Even as Muttaqi painted a picture of stability, the absence of women journalists at his own press conference underscored the very issue that continues to define Afghanistan’s global image, a peace built without the voices of half its population.