Saudi Arabia – relaxing the grip
Kingdom Tower : Riyadh Four year ago : As soon as plane does a touchdown at Riyadh , ladies rush for their abaya (A loose, usually black robe worn, covering the body from head to toe and worn with a headscarf and veil )to cover themselves up. Two years ago: Ladies walk out of the aircraft clad in normal attire, but while standing in immigration queue, take out Abaya and start wearing it before they arrive at immigration desk. Now: They hardly bother about Abaya; go through immigration, baggage screening and customs. But as soon as they are out of the airport, they are in their ubiquitous black attire. My four day trip to Riyadh, gave me this changing impression of Saudi Arabia .Albeit at snail’s place, Saudi regime is slowly relaxing their formidable Islamic grip on the society. No more customs officials ransack bags; tear the parcels, insist on switching on laptops to look for symbols that would connote Islamic blasphemy. Immigration clerk too are relaxed. Bags go through X ray machi...