Women’s emancipation, a dream dear to many, found new expression – this time in the most unlikely of places – Saudi Arabia – where women in the extremely conservative oil kingdom have won the right to drive vehicles. Past the midnight of Saturday, women are reportedly taking vehicles out in small numbers to start with. What is expected is that the newly churned driving schools in the kingdom will train millions of women to drive vehicles in the coming three to four years, effecting a major change in the scenario there.
This comes as a victory especially to the small band of women who broke the rules and dared to ride vehicles as far back as 1990, only to be hauled up by police and brought before law. Notably, two situations apparently led to the present relaxation in driving rules. One is the assumption to authority of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his introduction of reforms in the past one year, which included a little more freedom to individuals – like lifting a ban on cinemas and mixed gender concerts. Last year he also issued an order allowing women to drive vehicles. The religious zealots are not comfortable with these changes though. They argue that more such freedom for women in public spheres would lead to promiscuity and sin, and they cite theories that say women in driving seats would lead to problems for them in conceiving and childbirth
The second aspect is the attempt at saving the nation’s economy hit by the slump in oil prices in recent years. The kingdom could now progressively save huge amounts that go into the hands of expatriates who work as drivers and remit money to their homes in India, Pakistan and elsewhere. Saudi Arabia has not come a long way in reforms, considering the extensive controls that it imposes on citizens in general, and not just women. The Gulf nations as a whole adopt dictatorial ways to govern their peoples. The pro-democracy initiative for the Arab world initiated by former US President George Bush, Junior had led only to peripheral changes, including overthrow of a couple of governments and installation of new dispensations. Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the US, mostly ignored attempts at reforms. Nevertheless, the small changes introduced in Saudi Arabia should hopefully lead to more progressive times for its citizenry.