Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 12 (ANI): Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani on Saturday said that what is happening with women in Afghanistan is 'wrong' and added that wherever there is a madrassa in the world, the same religious teachings are imparted.

Responding to reports of women journalists being excluded from a press conference addressed by Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi on Friday, Madani said it was 'just a coincidence' and that women were not specifically asked not to attend.

His remarks came after a meeting with the visiting Afghan Foreign Minister.

'We did not talk about that (ban on education for women in Afghanistan)... There is no difference in our religious teachings anywhere in the world, and we all preach the same things... Wherever there is a madrassa in the world, the same things are taught... What is happening with women in Afghanistan is wrong. In the press conference yesterday, it was just a coincidence that there were no women present. They did not ask women not to come. This is propaganda,' Madani told reporters.

Earlier in the day, Muttaqi visited Darul Uloom Deoband and met Maulana Arshad Madani. The Afghan minister thanked the seminary and residents for their warm welcome and expressed hope that relations between India and Afghanistan would continue to strengthen.

'I am thankful to all of you for the warm welcome given to me by everyone in Deoband and the love showered upon me. I will pray to god that India-Afghanistan relations improve further. After the meeting I had in Delhi, I can say that our future is bright. I hope that our visits between Delhi and Kabul increase,' Muttaqi said.

Madani said that the meeting was not political, but that the two spoke about Afghanistan's historical links with India's independence movement.

'I told him that our ties with you are not just academic. You contributed to the independence of India. Our forefathers chose the land for Afghanistan to fight for India's independence. For your independence, you defeated powers like America and Russia. You learnt from us how to do that when we defeated Britain. I told him (Afghan FM Amir Khan Muttaqi) that this meeting shows how the Muslims of India and the Darul Uloom Deoband have deep ties with you. There should be harmony within the nations of the world, irrespective of their religion... We had no political discussion... The relations between the two nations will improve. India has had complaints that Afghanistan sent terrorists to India. Now, after this meeting, it is confirmed that no terrorists will come to India from Afghanistan,' Madani said.

Since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has banned women and girls from secondary and higher education.

A controversy erupted in New Delhi after Indian women journalists were reportedly barred from attending Muttaqi's press conference at the Afghanistan Embassy on Friday.

Muttaqi is on a week-long visit to India, from October 9 to 16. This is the first high-level delegation from Kabul to India since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.

Earlier on Saturday, the Afghan minister said the 'future of India-Afghanistan relations seems very bright,' and thanked the Ulema and people of Deoband for their reception.

'The journey has been very good so far. Not just the people of Darul Uloom, but all the people of the area have come here. I am grateful to them for the warm welcome they extended to me... I am thankful to the Ulema of Deoband and the people of the area for this warm welcome... The future of India-Afghanistan relations seems very bright,' Muttaqi told ANI. (ANI)