This is not the first time that the Trinamool MP has lashed out at the Centre for its engagement with Taliban officials. In October 2025, she condemned the government after Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi addressed a press conference in Delhi attended exclusively by men journalists.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has lashed out at the Taliban after reports emerged that a newly introduced penal code in Afghanistan effectively legitimises domestic violence against women and equates their status with that of “slaves”.
In a scathing attack, Moitra accused the Taliban regime of codifying gender-based brutality and took a swipe at the Centre for engaging diplomatically with the Islamist group.
“The Indian government laid out the red carpet for this very Taliban a few months ago. As an Indian woman, I hang my head in shame. For my Afghan sisters — we stand with you against these demons,” she tweeted.
The Indian government laid out the red carpet for this very Taliban a few months ago. As an Indian woman I hang my head in shame. For my Afghan sisters – we stand with you against these demons. pic.twitter.com/4MEuHngY3f
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) February 22, 2026
Details of the reported penal code from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan have alarmed women’s rights activists.
According to accounts circulating among rights groups, the code places women on the same legal footing as “slaves”.
It also allows husbands or “masters” to physically punish wives or dependents, as long as no bones are broken or open wounds inflicted.
This is not the first time that the Trinamool MP has lashed out at the Centre for its engagement with Taliban officials.
In October 2025, she had condemned the government after Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi addressed a press conference in Delhi attended exclusively by men journalists.
“The government has dishonoured every single Indian woman by allowing the Taliban minister to exclude women journalists from the presser. Shameful bunch of spineless hypocrites,” Moitra had said at the time.
