EGI condemns exclusion of women journalists from Muttaqi's press conference

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) A day after Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held a restrictive press conference in the Afghan Embassy premises in New Delhi on Friday, where no women journalists were allowed, the Editors Guild of India on Saturday “strongly condemns the exclusion of women journalists from the press conference”.

“The conference was meant to address diplomatic and bilateral engagements during Mr Muttaqi’s visit to India. While diplomatic premises may claim protection under the Vienna Convention, that cannot justify blatant gender discrimination in press access on Indian soil, the media body said in its press note.

The press conference conducted by the FM Muttaqi was held in a restrictive manner, wherein only a handful of journalists were invited, excluding any female journalists has now snowballed into a major diplomatic embarrassment, both for the Taliban and MEA.

“Whether or not the MEA coordinated the event, it is deeply troubling that such a discriminatory exclusion was allowed to proceed without objection. The absence of solidarity in pointing out this discriminatory practice at the event signals a troubling complacency in our community,” the EGI said.

Notably, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Saturday, in a clarification, said that the invites for the press meet went to select journalists from Afghanistan's Consul General in Mumbai who were stationed in Delhi for the Afghan minister's visit.

The Editors Guild of India has urged the Government of India to publicly reaffirm that press access at diplomatic events held in India must respect gender equity.

“We also call upon our journalist colleagues and media houses to reflect on this lapse and adopt a zero-tolerance stand against any kind of discriminatory exclusion of anyone at a press event. A free and inclusive press must defend representation, not enable exclusion,” it pointed out.

As reported by IANS on Friday evening, Taliban official Ikramuddin Kamil, who has the Afghanistan’s Mumbai consulate since last year, reached out to these selected journalists himself via a phone call and gave them the informal invitation.

--IANS

sas/dan