FairPoint: When misplaced outrage overshadows real oppression

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) The Afghan Embassy did a surprising course correction after facing backlash for the exclusion of women journalists from media interaction in New Delhi.

It could have been because of the pressure from the hosting country, or it may have been to show a 'humane face' before the international glare in the wake of facing aggression from Pakistan. The change enforced by the evolving situation, however, does not change the truth -- the Taliban do not like the very concept of freedom for women.

This is a country where women are routinely discriminated against -- even during moments of catastrophe. Against this grim backdrop, barring women journalists from a diplomatic event on October 11 in New Delhi seemed like a small, predictable extension of a much larger and cruel ideology.

Yet, in India, the controversy took an unexpected turn. Rather than directing outrage at the Taliban's misogynistic policies, several politicians used the incident as a weapon to attack the Modi government, turning a human rights issue into a political skirmish.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was among the first to demand answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She accused the government of allowing such discrimination to occur on Indian soil and failing to defend women's rights.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra went further, asking why the press conference was permitted at all. "You talk about Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, about women's empowerment and dignity," she said, "and yet you roll out a red carpet for a delegation that disrespects women."

The criticism was fierce. The Ministry of External Affairs clarified that the Afghan Consul General's office in Mumbai handled the invitations independently. The embassy premises are in Afghan territory and therefore not under Indian jurisdiction.

Despite this clarification, the controversy refused to die down. Opposition leaders continued to attack the Centre, missing the deeper issue -- the ongoing and systematic oppression of women under Taliban rule.

Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have stripped Afghan women of nearly every basic right. Girls over the age of 12 are forbidden from attending school, women are barred from most employment, and even those working in humanitarian organisations have been ordered to stay home.

Books by female authors have been removed from university libraries. Women are not allowed to visit parks, gyms, or even public baths. They cannot travel long distances without a male guardian. Every aspect of daily life has been reduced to a rigid set of restrictions justified through the Taliban's narrow interpretation of Sharia law.

The results are catastrophic, particularly in times of disaster. When devastating earthquakes struck Afghanistan's Herat province in 2023, or the recent one in September, killing thousands, women bore a disproportionate share of the suffering.

In deeply conservative areas, rescue efforts stalled because men hesitated to offer help to women in times of distress. Aid workers reported that food and medical supplies were distributed first to men, while women went without. Some women who lost their families were prevented from living alone in tents because that violated Taliban rules. The same regime that claims to "protect women's honour" leaves them to die unattended in rubble.

International organisations have also sounded repeated alarms over the restrictions on Afghan women and girls. The United Nations Human Rights Council, in its July 2024 report, described the situation as "grave, worsening, widespread, and systematic oppression".

It urged the Taliban to reverse policies that exclude females from education, employment, and public life. But the Taliban remain unmoved, insisting they are upholding "Islamic values" and "Afghan culture".

Ironically, while global outrage focuses on the Taliban's brutality, in India, the press conference incident has become a tool for domestic political point-scoring. Instead of rallying together to condemn the Taliban's medieval mindset, many opposition leaders have chosen to criticise the Modi government.

Rahul Gandhi, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, took a direct aim at the Prime Minister, writing on his X handle, "When you allow the exclusion of women journalists from a public forum, you are telling every woman in India that you are too weak to stand up for them. In our country, women have the right to equal participation in every space. Your silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the emptiness of your slogans on Nari Shakti."

He made it look as if the Indian government did this -- a diversion that risks diluting the moral message. The debate, Rahul Gandhi and his supporters have tried to shift from who is committing the injustice to who is to blame for hosting them!

The Opposition leaders in India may have found a critical point in the October 11 no-women-allowed presser in the Afghan Embassy, but the answer has also been given in the Sunday event, which sources said happened with a nudge from the MEA.

The Taliban may have buckled down in the wake of the situation, but the larger question is about the discrimination against women in that country.

(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)

--iANS

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