Recently, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, causing many problems such as a refugee crisis, the suppression of free speech, and the abuse of women's human rights. Among them, it is the issue of women's human rights abuse that shows the most severe oppression and is receiving global condemnation. As for the current situation of Afghan women, at least four Afghan female police officers have been killed in the last three months. The Taliban is engaged in ruthless action, such as beating a female police officer who was eight months pregnant to death in front of her family. With the news of women being harmed by the Taliban, how much women's human rights will be upheld now that the Taliban has returned to power is unclear. The Taliban said that it would protect hijab-wearing women's rights to education, employment, and participation in politics. They argued that they would present a different image from when they were last in power. Thus, it is necessary to determine if this is indeed the case, and we need to think about the Islamic culture that is the basis for their discrimination against women.

To this end, let's examine the policies implemented during the Taliban’s previous rule. When the Taliban was previously in power, all education for females over the age of eight was prohibited. Also, the Taliban did not guarantee women's basic right to healthcare, preventing them from being treated by male doctors. The regime also did not allow women to work. Women were ordered to stay at home. The Taliban also warned that they would harshly punish anyone who hired women. Moreover, women could not go anywhere without a male guardian, and, in court, a woman's testimony was only considered half as important as a man's. In this way, Afghan women did not enjoy basic human rights and were clearly discriminated against.

So, has the treatment of women changed since the Taliban recently returned to power? Contrary to their words, the Taliban still treats women unfairly. There are no women in the newly formed cabinet. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s provision of education once again discriminates against women. As an illustration of this, the new president of Kabul University, a former member of the Taliban, prohibits women from studying or teaching at the university’s schools. Kabul University is the largest national university in Afghanistan, established in 1930. It had approximately 20,000 students, half of whom were female students before the Taliban’s return. Shockingly, the most prestigious school in Afghanistan is exhibiting such discriminatory behavior.

The Taliban is an Islamic Sunni militant political organization based on strict Islamic rule. The basis for their discrimination against women can be found in the Koran, the Islamic scripture. Surah (chapter) 4:34 of the Koran states, "Men are the protectors of women because Allah has given them more strength than women. Men support women by all their means. A sound woman will devote herself to following men..." The Taliban insists that men are women's guardians and that women should devote themselves to men. Surah 2:228 emphasizes that there is a clear difference between women and men, stating: "Women and men have the same rights, but men are above women, so all things work out." In surah 2:282, it says, "And I will set up two men among you as witnesses. However, if there are no two men around you, you will have witnesses as one man and two women so that if one witness does something wrong, you will be reminded by the other," which demonstrates that Muslims regard two women's words as equal to one man's.

Looking at the situation of women in Afghanistan, I think it is very unfortunate to see women being treated unfairly and even having their lives threatened in extreme cases, despite women being the same as men. I hope this discrimination is stopped as soon as possible. To achieve this, we will have to keep watching. Also, we should be careful about adopting an attitude of “It’s their culture, they’ll take care of it,” and we should not accept extreme cultural relativism. Universal values such as basic human rights cannot be ignored by any culture or law. Meanwhile, the recent issue of Muslims building a mosque in Daegu has become contentious. Should this be seen as part of a multicultural policy that respects Korea's Muslim culture? Or is this the introduction of discrimination and oppression as a culture? I believe this issue should also be taken seriously.