News Desk |
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman in his latest interview to CBS’s news program ‘60 minutes’ remarked that he considers women equal to men. In an answer to the question over his outlook on gender equality, Muhammad Bin Salman said the word ‘absolutely’ to affirm he believes in gender equality.
Prince Mohammed said, “Absolutely. We are all human beings and there is no difference.” “We have extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and they’re being together in a workplace. Many of those ideas contradict the way of life during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),” he said.
The transformations are brought to attract foreigners towards Saudi Arabia that will release the country from its heavy reliance on depleting oil resources. Prince Muhammad Bin Salman is currently on his official trip to the US. He is expected to meet President Donald Trump and will visit various states on his trip.
Prince Muhammad Bin Salman initiated some reforms on women’s right such as loosening clothes restrictions and allowing them to drive. His reforms opened the gateway for greater participation of women in civil defense sectors, workforce and employment.
The Prince acknowledged that his society in the past few decades has dominated by an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam that was wary of non-Muslims and portrayed women subjugation as part of Islamic principals. The application of ultraconservative laws constricted social life by banning movies and theatres in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Read more: Is the Saudi Crown Prince really promoting moderate Islam?
He in his interview recalled Saudi Arabia was a progressive and balanced society until 1979. He urged people should revise the history of Saudi Arabia. “We were victims, especially my generation that suffered from this a great deal,” he said.
“This is not the real Saudi Arabia. I would ask your viewers to use their smartphones to find out. And they can Google Saudi Arabia in the 70s and 60s, and they will see the real Saudi Arabia easily in the pictures.
“We were living a very normal life like the rest of the Gulf countries. Women were driving cars. There were movie theaters in Saudi Arabia. Women worked everywhere. We were just normal people developing like any other country in the world until the events of 1979.”
Prince Mohammed said, “Absolutely. We are all human beings and there is no difference.” “We have extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and they’re being together in a workplace.
In the latter part of the interview, he defended his campaign against corruption and jailing of 380 Saudi princes, businessmen, and former government ministers.
Read more: Saudi Prince pays heavy price for freedom
Prince Muhammad Bin Salman under his ambitious ‘Vision 2030′ seeks to restore the balance between Islamic traditions and modernity. The transformations are brought to attract foreigners towards Saudi Arabia that will release the country from its heavy reliance on depleting oil resources.
Prince Muhammad Bin Salman is currently on his official trip to the US. He is expected to meet President Donald Trump and will visit various states on his trip.
In the interview, he was asked about his personal wealth and spending since he was discovered as the owner of the world’s most expensive home worth more than $300 million. “As far as my private expenses, I’m a rich person and not a poor person,” he said. “I’m not Gandhi or Mandela.”