In his latest outburst on social media, self-styled polymath and X commentator Sumanth Raman has once again grabbed attention — this time by condemning the exclusion of women journalists from a press conference addressed by Taliban Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi.
On October 11, 2025, Raman took to X accusing the Indian Government of “meekly agreeing” to the Taliban’s demands, even shaming male journalists who attended the event.
But as with many of his political rants, the outrage rests on selective facts and partisan spin — perfectly aligned with the Congress ecosystem’s attempt to corner the Modi government over yet another manufactured controversy.
Sumanth Raman’s tone was accusatory, painting both the government and the journalists as enablers of gender discrimination. Yet, this narrative collapses upon the simplest scrutiny.
There are two glaring errors in Sumanth’s tweet.
First – The press meet took place inside the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, a space that, under international diplomatic conventions, is sovereign Afghan territory. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that it had no role in organizing or overseeing the event — a fact confirmed by BBC reports quoting an official MEA statement on the same day.
That crucial detail, however, seems to have escaped the Congress propagandist’s attention — or perhaps been conveniently ignored. His narrative seamlessly echoed that of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, both of whom rushed to accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “too weak” to stand up for women. The timing, tone, and talking points point unmistakably to a coordinated political play, and Raman’s amplification of it fits like a glove.
Second – He’s wrong that no male journalists registered their protest. Aditya Raj Kaul of NDTV did ask for women journalists to be included.
Congress party which has itself banned Indian journalists from its headquarters, prevented them from attending press conferences, and even attempted to use the law to curb media freedom during the UPA era should be the last to deliver moral lectures about women journalists being… pic.twitter.com/bY2cPXBJfS
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 11, 2025
Known for his partisan outbursts, Sumanth Raman has previously drawn flak for spreading misinformation — from misrepresenting journalist Palki Sharma to amplifying dubious claims about diplomatic incidents involving Pakistan. His latest attempt to paint the Modi government as complicit in the Taliban’s misogyny reeks of opportunism, not principle.
Yes, the exclusion of women journalists is reprehensible — but it stems from Taliban policy, not Indian governance. The Afghan Embassy’s internal decision reflects the Taliban’s regressive stance, not India’s. By deliberately blurring that distinction, Raman exposes not the government’s weakness, but his own intellectual dishonesty.
In reality, India continues to engage the Taliban strategically — to secure its diplomatic foothold in Kabul, maintain trade routes, and counter Pakistan’s influence in the region, as recent MEA statements and Al Jazeera reports from October 10 confirm. But for Sumanth Raman and his political patrons, nuance has never been as valuable as noise.
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