Saudi will never be same again: Activist hails removal of driving ban on women

Riyadh: “Saudi Arabia will never be the same again. The rain begins with a single drop,” tweeted the activist, who created online campaign #Women2Drive to lift the driving ban on women in Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.

Woman activist Manal al-Sharif, who was jailed for posting a video of her driving a car, hailed the government’s move in a blog.

For the first time women in the ultra-conservative kingdom will be allowed to drive from June 2018, the announcement about which was made on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia was the only the country in the world to bar women from driving and had garnered negative publicity internationally for detaining women who defied the ban.

Sharif, in her blog, said that it has been over 21 years since the first attempt was made to lift the ban on women’s driving in Saudi Arabia in 1990.

Speaking to Australia television network, Sharif, who is a Saudi native but resides in Australia, said: “I’m a mother of two, I’m 38, I’m a consultant. And I’m still a minor before the law.” 

Sharif has written a book on the campaign, ‘Daring to Drive’, which encompasses her struggle to drive on Saudi streets and also mentions how in the country ultra-conservative codes define lives.

During her protest against ban on women’s driving, Sharif had said that many women joined the campaign by defying the ban. She recalled one instance, in which a Saudi-based journalist Maysa Al-Amoudi was imprisoned for at least 72 days for driving.

Another activist Loujain Al-Hathloul was overwhelmed by the news. Hathlouol tweeted, “Praise be to Allah.”

Like #Women2Drive, these activists had also campaigned against the guardianship law of Saudi government, which was called #IamMyOwnGuardian. Sharif also tweeted, “#Women2Drive done #IamMyOwnGuardian in progress”.