Women under an invisibility cloak?

On October 10th , Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, a member of the far-right Islamic group known as the Taliban, held a press conference in New Delhi at which no women journalists were present. A second press conference was held two days later, this time with women included, with their absence at the original event being labelled a technical glitch owing to short notice. The Taliban is infamous for its draconian practices, and Afghanistan under its control is a place where womens rights in particular are severely curtailed, with their participation in public life almost non-existent. Even when a devastating earthquake hit the country in September, rules preventing the entry of women aid workers, and preventing skin contact between men and women, led to life-saving assistance being denied to many affected by that disaster. Here where such laws are not enacted, and where women do appear in public life, outrage against the absence of women journalists at the initial press conference is warranted, but it is also at least a little bit non-reflective. When reading former Union Minister P Chidambarams comment that the men journalists should have walked out when they found that their women colleagues were excluded (or not invited), my immediate thoughts were: Do Indian men notice a lack of women in work scenarios and in public spaces, in general? If they do notice, is it out of prurient interest alone? Do Indian men realise when Indian women are not visible, and do they wonder why? This is a deficiency that is de rigeur in some form or the other here. How inclusive are spaces within India, organised or created by people within India? Not enough. A press conference by a foreign regime that is notorious for its treatment of women is not some anomaly, and could not have been held without New Delhis authorisation and support. It occurred around the same time that the actor Deepika Padukone was criticised for wearing an abaya in an Abu Dhabi Tourism commercial shot at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The contention was that she was dressing regressively; the counterpoint was that she was respecting that culture. But there was no insistence before the first press conference that women participate because thats this culture. Or is it? India has not yet formally recognised the Talibans regime, but the invitation to Muttaqi to visit and to engage with the press and dignitaries suggests an intention to strengthen India-Afghanistan ties. This has also piqued the curiosity of many, for it is unsettling. On the one hand, ordinary Muslim citizens in India experience demonisation, while there is camaraderie on the global level with the actual far-right on the other. On the subject of press conferences, in a decade-plus term leading the nation that is technically the worlds largest democracy, Prime Minister Modi has not held even one real one. When comparing ourselves to the Taliban, we are most definitely going to fare better. We have women in the media here in India, to begin with. But the hue and cry over women not being allowed at that first press conference is also, at least from some quarters, an eyewash.