Parliamentary Negative Phenomena Committee, which has self-appointed itself as the entity responsible for ‘guard ing morals’ and ‘preserving societal values and customs’ of the country, has reportedly denounced the holding of sporting events such as marathons. The committee’s purported objection to marathons is that they encourage the mixing of genders and that music and bands are played at these events.
Marathons held in Kuwait and elsewhere allow people to participate in a sporting activity while raising awareness and showing support for social and charitable causes. But apparently, a coterie of lawmakers have reservations against such noble endeavors and have decried these events, stating that they go against the ‘customs and values of Kuwait’.
To enforce their views and ways of thinking on the general public, these MPs have reportedly applied pressure on the Ministry of Interior and other concerned ministries to cancel such functions. They also warned the authorities not to grant permissions for such permissive activities in future, or the concerned minister would face the prospect of parliamentary grilling.
In the past, the same lawmakers or others of their ilk, have managed to successfully object and stop the holding of several public events, including yoga demonstrations, padel competitions, artistic and cultural concerts, all in the name of preserving the ‘customs and values’ of Kuwait.
Many people and social activists have raised their voices on social media and elsewhere, against such restrictions on freedoms, and the imposing of the wishes of a select few parliamentarians on the entire country. They termed it a retrograde step and an attempt to turn back the clock to a bygone era. People found it especially galling that these restrictions come at a time when neighboring states in the region are making great strides along the path of openness and freedoms, but Kuwait remains bogged down by ‘negative phenomenons’ as well as the ‘customs and values, imposed by a few.
This warped reasoning by a select few would, when extended further, imply that other brotherly states in the Gulf Cooperation Council states have diluted, if not lost, their customs, values and cultures. And that these countries are mired in ‘negative phenomenons’ by staging events such as the Expo 2020 in Dubai, the ongoing World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and the numerous music festivals and other entertainment events that are held in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and elsewhere? Because at all of these events there is no restriction on participation of genders and music certainly is a big part of these functions.
Activists criticized what is happening from the interference of some deputies in public life, who appointed themselves as guardians of virtue and guardians of morality, instead of paying attention to real problems and core issues that the country faces. They pointed out that marathons receive great attention from the countries of the world, and it is a sporting, health and social activity that is popular with adults and women. They noted that some marathons have thousands of people of both genders and different ages participating, and demanded to know what was wrong in organizing such events.
While some of the marathon organizers revealed that they were told to ban the bands accompanying these events, this is a strange demand considering that the music encourages walking and running, and it does not contain any deviation from public values, morals and customs.
Media reports indicate that following an implicit warning from the Negative Phenomena Committee in the form of a parliamentary question submitted by one of its members to the Minister of Interior, in which he expressed his objection to the phenomenon of a number of bodies and institutions organizing sporting events, such as marathons, that include things that do not take into account the customs and values of Kuwaiti society, and which lead to mixing of genders that is forbidden. Accordingly some sporting event organizers had to submit to the instructions they received from the Ministry of Interior instead of canceling the marathon.
Parliamentarian Alia Al-Khaled called on the Ministry of Interior not to succumb to extremist currents. Al-Khaled said, “If the news is true, I am surprised, and denounce the Ministry of Interior’s request to cancel the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) marathon under the pretext of mixing and the presence of music.” She added, “Sports events and gatherings have health and societal goals and work to consolidate relations between members of society, in addition to recreational goals that reduce the psychological pressures experienced by citizens and residents.”
She added, “The practice of guardianship under the pretext of religion is a bad exploitation of it, and there is no compelling argument for it. Ethics is an approach that all Kuwaitis are raised on, and this is evident in their approach and behavior.”
She stressed, “The Ministry of the Interior must implement the law in the affirmative and not exercise authoritarianism for fear of interrogation or threat. If today we want reform and development, then this approach does not serve the hoped-for vision announced by His Highness the Amir and His Highness the Crown Prince.”
In a further development, MP Alia Al-Khaled later announced that the NBK would be held on 10 December along the Gulf Street. She thanked the Ministry of Interior, His Excellency the Minister of Interior and the Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic, for their quick response in resolving the issue. She emphasized that these efforts and this cooperation between the parties is an effective and important matter in settling many issues, and contributes to strengthening constitutional gains, threats to which we do not accept under any pretext.
