A diplomatic visit by Afghanistan’s acting Taliban Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, has ignited a political and gender rights storm in India after women journalists were reportedly barred from attending his press conference at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday.

The incident has drawn sharp criticism from political leaders across party lines. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram called the exclusion of women journalists “shocking,” urging male journalists to walk out in solidarity.

“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 male journalists should have walked out when they found that their female colleagues were excluded (or not invited),”

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