I just heard the most ridiculous news story on BBC World Service. The Saudi "moral police" - we knew them as mutawahs - want regular police protection and danger pay because of a backlash against them from ordinary Saudis. They claim their work has become difficult and dangerous and they want that to be recognised. Bloody cheek!
Essentially, these guys hassle people for a living. They're mostly just a nuisance - I was stopped a couple times in the Saudi city of Khobar where we used to shop occasionally and told my dress was unacceptable and a sign of my deep moral degredation which I had apparently managed to achieve at the tender age of just 12 - but according to the news report last year several mutawahs stopped girls escaping from a burning school because they were not wearing their head scarves and fifteen girls died in the fire. The majority of these moral police, according to the report, are university graduates, which surely proves that education does not make you intelligent.
The irony is, this comes some fifteen years too late. I remember Mum saying that any mutawah that threatened her would certainly need to be ready to defend himself. And our mild-mannered friend Virginia Stewart did actually push and shove one and knocked him off his feet one night as she got on the Khobar shopping bus. She was lauded with a round of applause if I remember correctly. It was one of the most exciting things that ever happened in our Saudi life.
2 comments:
Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo for them. Can you hear the distinct lack of sympathy in my voice. I remember the night Virginia Stewart made her place folk history. Good for her.
All I can say is that those evil little s..ts are finally getting what they deserve. Their sole purpose in life seems to be making everyone as miserable as they are.
They are in the same calibre as the kind of pathetic individuals here who need pit bulls to boost their self esteem. I hope the police let the public get on with the job of seeing them off once and for all!!
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