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Are Reforms in Saudi Arabia Really Meaningful?

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The reforms in Saudi Arabia have been making headlines around the globe these days. Current cultural and political reforms in the gulf state ignore most of the religious norms, but they seem to provide the Royal Family with the much needed political power.

Lots of social reforms have been announced by Saudi Arabia lately. One of the biggest ones was letting mature women live on their own without asking for permission from one of her parents or other men around them. Moreover, women are now allowed to visit Mecca and perform their religious duties without asking from a male guardian. They are now allowed to travel with other women independently.

Literature Censorship

The Saudi authorities also say that they’re working hard to ease the current censorship laws which are applicable on all written and recorded literature imported into the country. Previously, the country was known for having some of the strictest censorship laws in the whole region.

The promised changes to the censorship law would allow more books and other forms of literature inside Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, some controversial steps have also been taken in this regard. For example, Saudi authorities have advised mosques to only turn up the volume of their speakers to one thirds of their maximum volume when calling for prayer. While the authorities mentioned that the step was taken to reduce noise pollution, the conservative community see it as an unnecessary move.

Moreover, concerts are allowed in restricted setting as well.

Why Are The Reform Process Accelerating?

Well, these reforms aren’t the first ones to be done in Saudi Arabia, nor are they the last ones. Instead, these reforms are one part of the Vision 2030 plan given by the Crown prince MBS in 2016. The plan aims to make Saudi Arabia friendlier towards tourism, and international investment by making it more liberal and easy to live for people from around the globe.