Taliban holds second meeting in Delhi with female journalists in attendance.
Following widespread criticism of the exclusion of female journalists from the previous Taliban meeting at the Afghan embassy in Delhi, a new meeting was held on Sunday with a large attendance of female journalists.
A picture of an Indian female journalist’s “triumphant smile” at the meeting quickly went viral on social media and was seen as a symbol of the media’s reaction to the Taliban’s retreat from gender restrictions.
The incident began after the Taliban did not allow Indian female journalists to enter their press conference on Friday, a move that sparked a wave of political and social criticism in India.
Opponents of the Narendra Modi government called the move “disrespectful to Indian women by the Taliban” and called on the government to take a firm stand against such behavior.
Following these pressures, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs asked Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, to hold a new meeting with female journalists in attendance.
The meeting was held on Sunday, and female journalists were in the front row, asking Muttaqi questions about women’s rights to education and work in Afghanistan.
