The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced a momentous decision, though it might be early days to predict that liberal winds have started blowing under a new generation in the palace. Women have been granted the right to drive; the watershed concession effectively overturns what has been called a “cornerstone of Saudi conservatism”.

The traditional bar on driving by women had become a cause celebre (symbol of a struggle) among social activists who have been shrilling for reforms in the fundamentalist kingdom. Thus far, the palace in Riyadh had tiptoed on such changes, pre-eminently the inclusion of women in the ‘Shura’ (governing council)..,. with a curtain demarcating the genders. While their voice can be heard, they are not to be seen. Tuesday’s decision on allowing women to drive is without question a critical forward movement, enunciated in a royal decree signed by King Salman.

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The liberal narrative after an era of theocratic conservatism has been simultaneously buttressed with the royal imprimatur that drivers’ licences must be issued to women who wanted them.

It is pretty obvious that the palace has deferred to the demands of the reformists with the added provision that women in Saudi Arabia will no longer require permission from a legal guardian to get a licence.

Nor for that matter will they need a guardian in the car when they drive. To put it succinctly, the decree signifies a victory for women, a “great step in the right direction”, as the US has described it.

The decision follows the entry of women ~ for the first time ~ into a stadium last week. It is open to question whether Saudi Arabia also intends to relax the guardianship laws, or take any other steps to expand women’s rights.

To allow women at the steering wheel is the most significant change yet to a rigidly conservative social order, one that has strictly demarcated gender roles, and severely limits the role of women in public life.

A critical chapter has now been added to women’s studies. The world must now expect the kingdom to adopt a decidedly humane approach in the matter of crime and punishment. Tuesday’s decision was not wholly unexpected; it was widely anticipated amidst a transformation of many aspects of Saudi society. Indeed, the emerging trend has been described by a senior minister as “cultural revolution disguised as economic reform”.

Apart from social reforms, live concert performances have been organised in Riyadh in recent months, if restricted to men only. In parallel, the powers of the religious police have been curtailed. Hitherto, its primary function was to serve as an adjunct to the palace administration, specifically in the pursuit of the theocratic agenda.

With the gradual dilution of that agenda, the religious police will hopefully be less brutal under a seemingly enlightened royalty.