RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has stationed women police officers on duty for the first time in history at Makkah’s Grand mosque Masjid al-Haram.
The Saudi Ministry of Interior has released pictures of women officers on duty. Female guards are seen wearing official uniforms as they perform their duties at the Grand Mosque, with the caption: “From the field. Security guards for Hajj and Umrah.”
#من_الميدان ، "أمن الحج والعمرة”@security_gov pic.twitter.com/5j93CKcmzl
— وزارة الداخلية 🇸🇦 (@MOISaudiArabia) April 19, 2021
The presence of female officers for Grand Mosque’s security impressed the social media users. The photos were retweeted and commented on by activists and analysts.
Turki al-sheik, head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority, commented on the photos with a tweet in which he said: “The homeland is in the field,” while Prince Sattam Bin Khalid Bin Nasser Al Saud commented by posting the image of the Saudi flag and green hearts.
The Saudi academic, Turki Al-Hamad, commented on the photo, “A picture worth thousand words… an image is closer to a symbol that means a lot… It is the new Saudi Arabia that is coming strongly into the modern era.”
As part of the Vision 2030 plans being implemented in the country under the leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, many new areas have been opened up for women.
Earlier, the Saudi Ministry of Defence had announced that both men and women could apply for various military positions. In December last year alone, the Iruharam office recruited about 1,500 women to various sections of the Masjid-ul-Haram.
