Shoura nixes proposal for strategy to fight deviant thought

RIYADH — The Shoura Council has rejected a proposal by the Ministry of the Islamic Affairs to formulate a national strategy on intellectual security to protect the youth against falling prey to devious thoughts. The proposal was contained in the ministry’s annual report. which the council discussed on Tuesday. Only 73 out of 150 members have supported the proposal, which has therefore failed to secure the required majority. The majority of the members, who voted against the proposal, said the intellectual security is already stipulated in many other existing programs being implemented by the Interior Ministry and other government departments. Haya Al-Manie, a female member of the council, expressed unhappiness over the rejection of the proposal and said she did not quite understand why the members have voted against it. She said under the proposal, the ministry should coordinate with all other concerned government, educational, cultural, information and youth departments in addition to the human rights organizations to formulate a national strategy for intellectual security. Manie said the strategy was aimed at pooling the government’s efforts against devious thoughts in a single platform instead of being distributed among numerous programs. Citing official reports, she said since 2000, the Kingdom had witnessed 124 terrorist operations and has foiled 250 other terrorist plots before they were carried out. She said 71 security men have lost their lives and 407 others wounded during these terrorist operations, which have also killed 100 civilians and wounded 659 others. The council also rejected a recommendation making the ministry responsible for the upkeep of mosques along the highways, saying this was the responsibility of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. The members criticized the ministry for not properly qualifying the preachers and mosque imams and asked it to train university graduates to do this job. A member noted that in their Friday sermons, the imams are praying for the people of Syria, Iraq and even Chechnya and forget Saudi soldiers guarding the Kingdom’s southern borders. Meanwhile, with a majority of 80 members, the council adopted a proposal to meet three times a week and to specify the next week for committee meetings.