No restrictions on presence of women journalists during Deoband event: Seminary
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Lucknow/Saharanpur (UP) (PTI): The Darul Uloom Deoband on Saturday asserted that there were no directives to keep women journalists away from covering the visit of Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to the seminary.
"There were no restrictions from the Afghan foreign minister's office about who would attend," Deoband PRO Ashraf Usmani, also the media in-charge of Muttaqi’s Saturday programme, told PTI, and dismissed as "baseless" claims that women journalists were kept away.
This followed a raging controversy over the absence of female journalists from a press conference of the visiting Afghan minister in New Delhi a day earlier, with the Opposition terming it as "unacceptable" and an "insult to women".
The Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) also termed the act as highly discriminatory and said it cannot be justified on grounds of diplomatic privilege under the Vienna Convention.
The Islamic seminary's clarification came regarding a public event of the Afghanistan minister that was scheduled to be held during his visit to the Darul Uloom Deoband in Saharanpur on Saturday but was called off at the last moment due to "overcrowding" and "security reasons".
"There were no directives from anywhere on the attendance of women journalists. But the programme got called off at the last moment," Usmani told PTI.
"Though the programme was called off due to overcrowding, the presence of a couple of women journalists for the Afghanistan minister's event was enough to rebut reports of women journalists being made to keep away from the event," he said, even naming news channels those journalists represented.
The absence of women journalists from the Friday presser by the Afghan leader has snowballed into a major controversy as, over the years, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan has been criticised for the denial of rights to women.
"More people turned up for the event than were expected. So the Afghanistan minister's speech didn't happen as local administration cited security concerns as a reason for cancelling the public event," Usmani added.
"Various things were doing the rounds, from women journalists not being allowed to them being made to sit separately. All of this was baseless," said Usmani, who is a Nazim (equivalent to departmental head) in Darul Uloom Deoband.
Ashraf Usmani said that today's programme of the Afghan foreign minister was organised by Darul Uloom Deoband.
"As far as the coverage of today's event is concerned, women reporters were allowed to cover it. The seating arrangements for the women reporters were made along with their male counterparts," he said while replying to queries, adding that there was no 'purdah' or curtain at the venue of the programme.
Usmani said that there was an unexpected rush of the media at the programme venue even when Muttaqi was having lunch at the guest house.
"As the district administration announced that the programme had been cancelled owing to overcrowding, we hurriedly invited the media at the guest house for a quick interaction before Muttaqi left for Delhi," he said.
Meanwhile, the president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Maulana Arshad Madani, when asked about Friday's press conference of the Afghan foreign minister, told reporters, "It was a coincidence that yesterday's press conference was attended only by men. The Afghan foreign minister had not said no to women coming to the press conference. It was wrong and propaganda."
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Regret participating in 'movement' that vilified ex-PM Manmohan Singh: Prashant Bhushan
New Delhi: Senior advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan has expressed regret over his past role in political movements that, he said, contributed to the vilification of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Bhushan made the remarks in a post on social media on the first death anniversary of Manmohan Singh.
In his post, Bhushan described Manmohan Singh as “a humble, decent, well educated and well meaning man,” adding that the former prime minister’s humility and decency were “seen as a weakness.” He said he regretted having participated in a movement that helped discredit Singh and, in his words, “helped a rogue regime come to power.”
Bhushan’s statement is widely seen as a reference to the anti-corruption movement that gained momentum during the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, when Manmohan Singh was prime minister. The movement, led by civil society activists, had targeted corruption allegations against the government and eventually reshaped India’s political landscape. Critics have since argued that the campaign contributed to undermining Singh’s leadership and paved the way for a change in government at the Centre.
Manmohan Singh, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2014, was known for his low-profile style, technocratic approach and role in shaping India’s economic reforms.
He was a humble, decent, well educated & well meaning man. His humility & decency was seen as a weakness.
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) December 26, 2025
I regret having participated in a movement that vilified him & helped a rogue regime come to power pic.twitter.com/6JWOrdCZdE
