A quote claiming that Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, during his recent press conferences, called the alleged persecution of Indian Muslims an “internal matter” of India in response to a question is fake.
The Afghan Taliban foreign minister held a second press conference on October 12 at the Afghan embassy after a huge uproar over the exclusion of Indian women journalists from his first press conference on October 10. Muttaqi had arrived in India on October 9, for a week of high-level talks with the Indian government.
BOOM watched the recent two press conferences by Afghan Foreign Minister Muttaqi during his India visit and did not find any such remark by him
The Claim: Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says persecution of Indian Muslims is India's 'Internal matter'
The quote was posted by the X handle @KreatelyMedia which reads, "Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi stated that the alleged persecution of Indian Muslims is an internal matter for India and does not concern Afghanistan". The caption with the graphic read, "Taliban slaps feminists and Islamists of India".
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BOOM has previously debunked misinformation posted by the handle on X. The same quote was previously posted by the pro-Pakistan X handle @SouthAsiaIndex.
What We Found:
1) No such comment during the Afghan Foreign Minister pressers
BOOM checked the livestreams of both press conferences by Muttaqi at the Afghanistan embassy in Delhi on October 10 and October 12 and found no instance of Muttaqi referring to persecution of Indian Muslims or calling the issue an “internal matter” of India.
2) Journalist present at PC confirms no such statement
BOOM reached out to independent foreign affairs journalist Smita Sharma, who attended the second press conference and had questioned the Afghan minister on the issue of Afghan girls and women being barred from education. Sharma confirmed that Muttaqi had not said any such quote that as mentioned in the viral graphic.
We also did not find any credible news reports that had covered the press conferences quoting Muttaqi making any such remark.
