India Shamed for Barring Women Journalists in Afghan Press Meet

India Shamed for Barring Women Journalists in Afghan Press Meet

India’s decision to keep women journalists out of a press conference with Afghan’s Taliban foreign minister feels like a step backward. It is not just a pure blunder, but it is a moment that forces us to question what India stands for when it talks about democracy, equality, and freedom.

By excluding women journalists, India did not simply give in to the Taliban’s demands, it betrayed its own democratic ideals.

India calls itself the “world’s largest democracy”, and then quietly sidelines half of its population because it makes a visiting minister more comfortable. The whole thing reeks of political convenience. To avoid offending the Taliban, India ended up echoing their misogyny.

Silencing the Press, Silencing Democracy

Moving forward, barring women from a press event is bad enough. Then controlling what questions can be asked, especially those about women’s rights and education, makes it worse. The message is clear. It is that some topics are too inconvenient to bring up when diplomacy is at stake.
This is not what democracy is supposed to look like. In India, the Constitution protects free speech and a free press for a reason. The press is not there to increase power, it is there to question it. Once one starts picking who can ask questions, or worse, who even gets to show up, the principle is already lost.

A Bad Look, and a Worse Message

Similarly, this was not some isolated “security” issue or logistical mix-up. It was a conscious choice, and it tells Afghan women, who are already fighting to study, work, or even walk freely, that their struggles are secondary to India’s diplomatic image.
Afghanistan’s women have been shut out of public life under the Taliban rule. By agreeing to conditions that mimic that same exclusion, India basically said, “We will play along.” That is not neutrality, but it is complicity.
Besides, if India wants to have influence in Afghanistan, it has to do it without surrendering its values. Standing up for women’s rights and free expression is not just moral posturing, but it is what gives democracy the required credibility.

Realpolitik is not an Excuse

Sure, foreign policy is complicated. India has reasons for keeping channels open with the Taliban, including trade routes, security, and regional balance. But diplomacy should not mean silence in the face of injustice. Realpolitik might give it access to its aim, but at what cost it will come is unclear.

No amount of “strategic diplomacy” can justify accepting the very oppression India always claims to oppose.

The country cannot claim moral authority while borrowing from the Taliban’s rulebook. It is one thing to talk with them, but it is another to copy their behavior. If India thinks it can influence Afghanistan’s direction, it needs to do that through example, and not by lowering its own standards.

Losing Credibility

Moreover, this decision did not happen in a vacuum. It comes at a time when India’s record on media freedom and dissent is under growing scrutiny. Journalists are facing pressure, and independent media is shrinking. So now this government event that openly excludes women reporters is an insult to injury.
It was seen with suspicion, not just domestically, but also internationally. Thus, one cannot call for equality and pluralism in the same breath in which they are enforcing silence. For a country which loves to talk about being the “voice of the Global South”, it is starting to sound like a muted one.

The Cost of Silence

However, what hurts most is the silence. There was no strong statement from officials, and no acknowledgment that this was wrong. That silence echoes the same kind which has been enforced on Afghan women. They are protesting in secret, and risking arrest just to demand education. And India, as a democracy, is choosing to stay quiet for diplomatic comfort.
Women journalists are not asking for special treatment, they are asking for the right to do their jobs, to ask hard questions, and to represent perspectives that half the population shares. When they are kept out, there is much loss. The truth, empathy, and accountability are all lost.

Time to Take Responsibility

Further, India owes its citizens, and its own Constitution, much better than this. A public apology would be a start, but more importantly, there needs to be a clear line drawn. This should be that it will not happen again. Democracy is not a slogan one pulls out for election speeches or foreign summits, it is a commitment that should guide every decision, especially when it is inconvenient.
Thus, if India wants to be taken seriously as a champion of democracy and human rights, it has to walk this path. That means defending women’s rights and press freedom not just in theory, but in the messy, uncomfortable moments when it is politically risky.
At the end of the day, this episode is not just about one press conference. This is about what kind of democracy India wants to be. Right now, it looks like one that is more concerned with appearances than principles. Hence, if it starts compromising on equality just to look “strategic,” then maybe it is not the true democracy.