Insights

During all my previous visits, I used to question if the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would be able to resist fast paced changes occurring all around. This time I have returned convinced that it is succumbing to them. The rulers have begun to initiate reforms in governance, administration and economy. Emergence of a vast educated class has begun to assert itself. Women are becoming vocal against repressive conventions and media does not fight shy of devoting space for some of the voices. The tendency to reject the discordant voices by the powers that be is now much weaker.


King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has proved himself to be more progressive than he was thought. Last fortnight, he announced that future monarchs would be appointed by a committee of six members within the ruling family. However, the rule would come into force after him, and his immediate brother Sultan have completed their terms. How far or close would that moment be is difficult to tell in context to the Kingdom. Abdullah’s predecessor, Fahd ruled for nearly 23 years, around half of which was in a state when he was not in total possession of his senses. But King Abdullah’s announcement has stirred a hornet’s nest within the ruling family where long line of 32 surviving sons-of the 40 sired by-the founding father late King Abdulaziz has been waiting to claim the throne. King Abdullah is fifth in line, i.e., after Saud, Faisal, Khaled and Fahd. Meanwhile, the size of the ruling family is snowballing. A knowledgeable source told me that speculations about the size of the ruling family varies wildly between 5,000 and 10,000 members. Multiple wives and a large number of kids amply contribute to the trend. The King has sons ranging in age between 55 and six. So also each one in the ruling family. Besides, there is generally no mention of the princesses. They must be equally numerous going by the healthy national gender ratio of 50.8 males to 48.2 females. Since the ruling family is firmly in control of the national resources, all big businesses, industries and estates have some prince sitting at their apex.


I was told the Internet, television channels and mobiles are major catalysts of change in the Saudi society. Awakening among women is attributed to it. Though not all changes are healthy. If mannequins in the shopping malls are any indication, Western dressing mores are catching up fast among women. Filtering of the soft culture is ineffective as Internet and TV programmes can be downloaded direct from the skies. And princes are more eager to violate the laws than commoners. An observer of the situation informed me that nearly 7,000 Saudi websites have been hoisted. Some of the websites and e-mail blogs highlight the opulent lifestyles of the members of the ruling family. Arrogance is inherent to the Saudi culture. It is seen in action against the hapless Asian immigrants dependant on Saudi jobs. But when it comes to the West, the Saudis are pusillanimous. An Australian nurse who murdered her colleague, had to be freed under Western pressure. A Saudi scribe told me as to how the arrogance manifests itself on roads where youth zip fast at speeds ranging from 200 to 220 mph. Saudi Arabia has the dubious distinction of highest rate of fatal accidents in the world, he pointed out.


But there are also silver linings. Democratic process has begun from the civic bodies. Now 16 regional civic bodies have 50 per cent elected members with other half being nominated by the ruling family. Women have also been nominated, though they still await voting rights. They are gaining positions in chambers of commerce, National Human Rights Council and academic bodies. More women are writing columns in newspapers. Deans and Academic Councils in universities would be elected from next year. Channels other than Saudi Television where Saudi capital has been invested, are now shown in the Kingdom. Businessman Abdul Latif Jameel has begun a micro credit programme for the smaller entrepreneurs inspired by the success of Mohammad Yunus. More of such changes would be welcome.

The visit to Saudi Arabia offered us an opportunity to visit Ad-Diriyyah, the oasis town in the Wadi Hanifa, 70 kms north of Riyadh. The lush green town is the original seat of Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab, the man who pioneered the movement to purge the Islamic faith of accretions and corruptions. It was here that the seeds of the present Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were sown by Amir Muhammad bin Saud in the middle of the 18th century. While Imam Abdul Wahab provided the ideological foundations, the Saud family built in the power structure. During the last two intervening centuries, the Nejdis under the long line of chieftains descending from the Sauds had constant military engagements with Ottoman Turks ruling the Hejaz region and controlling the holy places. It was left to Malik Abdul Aziz, the father of the five kings in as many decades, to conquer and unite the whole of the peninsula into modern day Saudi Arabia.


The ruins of Dirriyah are a pleasant ensemble of medieval forts, mosques, date farms, townships, guesthouses and baths. The crenellated mud structures open out with small hole-like triangular windows. Rooms are arranged around courtyard. The number of courtyards in a house served as index of the owner’s social status. The town is undergoing restoration since 1973 under a royal decree. The Wadi e Hanifa runs through the town providing it with natural water supply that keeps the place lush green all through the year.


From today’s opulent standards, the ancestors of the royal family led extremely austere life. All structures were built of mud bricks and roofed with Athil wood and palm tree leaves. But public baths (Hamams), a place of social interaction then, were especially built with frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (moderate room) and caldarium (hot room). Hamams had some centrality in the urbanscape as they allowed people to mix, create poetry and strike business deals or matrimonial alliances.


Diriyyah is well worth preserving as a slice of history of the Arabian peninsula.

I spent a day visiting the stables of the princely family in Janadriya, situated in the outskirts of Riyadh. The King is an equestrian enthusiast and maintains a royal stable of almost 125 racing horses in unimaginable luxury. The farms extend for miles together in the desert. Greenery has been coaxed out of the sand at a huge cost and with desalinated water. Rows of date palms lining the highways extend till the eyes can travel. Green spaces are studded with barns where horses are provided with soft wooden chip bed inside executive suites, fed with oats and nutritive pellets imported from Canada, treated with British medicine and tamed and trained by Western trainers. Rigmarole of exercise in swimming pools and automatic revolving platforms ensure that the wildest of the breeds begin to behave. Royal pavilions, farm villas and mosques dot the farms at regular intervals.


King Abdulaziz Race Track was built at a cost of Saudi Riyal 400 million and inaugurated in 2003. Some of the horses like ‘Sattaay’, a colt, were imported from the West at a cost of Saudi Riyal 2.5 million. The 7-story grandstand building is the last word in opulence. His Majesty graces it twice or thrice a year, perching himself on the royal suite on the fourth floor. Jockeys are flown in by chartered jets at an astronomical cost. Races are held every Thursday and Friday.


But racing horses do not complete the story. The adjacent royal horse farm has over 300 thoroughbreds and finest breeds of Arabian horses. Custom made horse floats imported at a cost of Saudi Riyal one million ferry the Arabian horses for rides whenever the royal family is out in the desert.


Horses have several patrons in the House of Sauds. Janadriya has stables and farms sprawling over miles together and auction time offers the opportunity to gauge the lavish spending the royals indulge in.


(The writer can be reached at maqbool_siraj@rediffmail.com)