Time to retire the morality police
- By Richard Branson -
- Jan 30, 2013
It's amazing what crops up on Twitter. A quite bizarre tale has been thrown up from Saudi Arabia, where 'Agents of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice' (government-salaried vigilantes) decided to close down an educational exhibition featuring plaster models of dinosaurs - scaring children and parents in the process - on the grounds of enforcing public morality.
It's nothing short of depressing to see the same old stories come out of Saudi Arabia, especially when last year saw some encouraging developments. Such as their first ever female Olympian, Sarah Attar, competing at London 2012. As I mentioned at the time, I have had first-hand experience of the way certain sections of the country's population can be treated. It's a shocking thing to experience.
The educated Saudi men that I personally know disagree with the regime's approach to women. I suspect it would be wise for the Saudi government to abolish the morality police and start treating all sections of their society with a little bit more trust and dignity.
Image by gripso_banana_prune on Flickr
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
