THE recent decision by a government department to make a wife suffer for the mistakes of her husband is an affront to the sacred institution of marriage. It is most unfortunate that people in our country choose to go backward while the rest of the world marches forward. We are still not sure if a woman can have a separate identification card which, in fact, was taken away from her only recently. She was once free to travel without a “letter of consent from her guardian who holds a certificate of support” though now even toothless grandmothers will not be allowed to travel unless the “guardian” declares to the authorities that he has no objection to her journey.
Women in the past also got telephone connections. But alas! Not now. Saudi Telecom Company (STC) treats a bona fide female Saudi citizen as if she were an expatriate — and I mean no disrespect to expatriates. If she wants to get a telephone, she must apply through a male guarantor as expatriates in the Kingdom are required to do. This humiliating condition, according to STC, is to make sure women pay their bills. It creates the impression that women are all out to cheat STC while men are all very prompt at paying theirs.
Because the Riyadh police view all women as tricksters and thieves, it issued an order stipulating that a guardian must be present when a woman sells gold or precious jewelry to ensure that she is not selling stolen goods. If a woman wants a commercial registration, she has to go through a male agent who is a Saudi. Even a Saudi woman’s husband, if he is a non-Saudi, is not eligible to act as her agent. He is not eligible to be her representative or handle her official documents or even make inquiries about her passport at government offices.
Now let us examine the order of the government department aimed at curbing the increasing traffic violations in the Kingdom. The order says that the department will not add the name of a man’s wife to his family identification card or issue him an ID card unless the department is satisfied that the man has paid all his traffic fines. According to local newspapers, by this move, the department hopes to reduce both the accumulating unpaid fines on one hand and any new violations on the other. Imagine what people outside the Kingdom will think of us when they read the order in newspapers and on the Internet.
The traffic department could have chosen several reasonable options to make defaulting men pay their fines without resorting to the unfair victimization of women. The department can refuse to renew the man’s driving license or his istimara — his car registration which must be renewed every three years. If the defaulter is a non-Saudi, the department could ask the authorities not to renew his iqama — residence permit — or refuse him an exit visa until he pays all outstanding fines. The traffic department can also adopt harsher measures aimed at citizens; they could be prevented from traveling outside the country until all fines were paid.
I cannot understand how a wife can be linked to a man’s traffic violations or his delay in paying a traffic fine. Do the authorities realize what problems such a step will cause women? Are they aware of the hardships a woman would have to endure if her name were not included in her husband’s family identification card — particularly if he died before adding her name? Now we women have dark fears over the punishment the government department will mete out to a wife if her husband commits any sort of violation after paying the fines and adding his wife’s name to family register. Will the department ask him to divorce his wife?
One also wonders how bachelors will be punished for traffic violations? I also fear that the new order will discourage youths from marrying.
Neither the government department nor the traffic department can justify this inhuman move. They claim to be closely linked but their functions are far apart. Who knows what more frightening methods of punishment the traffic department is scheming? Will it deny driving licenses to unmarried people and only grant them to an applicant if he is the father of half a dozen children?
There are civilized ways to collect the traffic department’s dues without frightening and terrorizing people. The traffic department should be fair and impartial in imposing its penalties. It should not behave in a manner which makes a citizen feel he is unjustly treated or that false violations have been recorded against him. The department should not give him the impression that violations of the rich and powerful are deleted from the records.
Each citizen has a right to be respected just as he has a duty to obey rules and regulations. Why cannot the traffic department inform violators of their violations, giving a fixed time for paying fines and an increased fine for delays? The department should publish its intention to implement such a system in the media accompanied by awareness campaigns. It should also explain the method of paying the fines if any violation has taken place.
I appeal to both the departments concerned to rescind the order with immediate effect and apologize to the women of this country before someone appears arguing that the order was only issued to protect women’s interests. [email protected]
