Introduction

The exclusion of women journalists from Taliban press conferences in New Delhi was not an accident, it was symbolic of a deeper issue: legitimizing a regime whose ideology is built on the deliberate erasure of women’s existence. As Afghan women face persecution, violence, and disappearance from every public sphere, the silence of democratic nations like India risks validating gender apartheid.

Why is this issue in the news?

The controversy erupted when India hosted two Taliban press conferences in New Delhi, where female journalists were initially excluded. The event coincided with a People’s Tribunal on the Women of Afghanistan in Madrid, where survivors testified to the Taliban’s gender-based persecution, recognized as a crime against humanity. The contrast between India’s engagement and the global condemnation of Taliban policies underscores a moral and diplomatic crisis.

How has the Taliban institutionalized the erasure of women?

1. Systematic exclusion: Since their 2021 return, the Taliban banned women from most public-sector jobs, secondary schools, and universities.
2. Legalized oppression: The 2024 Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law formally declared women’s voices “forbidden” in public.
3. Economic silencing: A 2025 Afghanistan Media Support Organisation survey found that 93% of women journalists lost their jobs, with more than 42% leaving journalism altogether.
4. Violence and fear: Women activists are detained, beaten, and their husbands tortured, part of a deliberate campaign to erase their visibility and livelihood.

Why is India’s stance seen as complicit rather than diplomatic?

1. Normalization of misogyny: Hosting Taliban officials while Afghan women pleaded for recognition signals tacit acceptance of their regime.
2. Moral inconsistency: While democracies like Spain and Canada host tribunals condemning Taliban atrocities, India’s diplomatic outreach stands in stark contrast.
3. Diplomatic short-sightedness: By engaging the Taliban without human rights conditionalities, India risks legitimizing gender apartheid as a form of governance.

What does this reveal about the global response to women’s rights?

1. Erosion of feminist diplomacy: Nations increasingly prioritize geopolitical pragmatism over gender justice.
2. Media complicity: Even in New Delhi, the Taliban’s media interaction mirrored their exclusionary ethos, showing that patriarchal silencing transcends borders.
3. Selective outrage: While Western nations condemn the Taliban, many still negotiate covertly for strategic or security reasons, diluting international accountability.

What lessons does this hold for India’s foreign policy and democracy?

1. Moral leadership deficit: India’s silence undermines its self-image as the voice of the Global South and defender of democratic rights.
2. Gender and diplomacy linkage: True diplomacy must integrate gender-sensitive ethics, ensuring no engagement legitimizes systemic violence.
3. Internal reflection: A democracy’s foreign policy mirrors its domestic respect for women’s agency. India’s global credibility depends on aligning words with action.

Conclusion 

India’s engagement with the Taliban marks a dangerous shift from moral diplomacy to moral compromise. As Afghan women’s rights are being erased, India’s silence echoes complicity, not neutrality. True diplomacy must speak truth to power, not share its platform. Democracies cannot afford to normalize gender apartheid; silence here is not strategy, it is surrender.

PYQ Relevance

[UPSC 2013] The proposed withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan in 2014 is fraught with major security implications for the countries of the region. Examine in light of the fact that India is faced with a plethora of challenges and needs to safeguard its own strategic interests.

Linkage: India’s current engagement with the Taliban reflects the security vacuum created after the ISAF withdrawal, forcing New Delhi to balance strategic interests with moral responsibility. As the article shows, this has turned India’s Afghan policy from cautious realism into a test of its ethical diplomacy and regional credibility.

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