Dear Editor,
Allowing to sell alcohol on inhabited islands or in the fish market is nothing to get excited about or worried about. But it’s the people you got to be worried about. People who have been brought up in their whole life thinking that alcohol and pork are something special and something to be feared. Something thrilling to do just because it’s forbidden or because it helps them to forget the cruelty around them.
While I’m all for the freedom of selling or consuming anything anyone wishes, I do to a certain level agree with people who oppose to this. I think Maldivian society is not informed enough or capable enough to handle this. These are like beasts we are talking about. Deprived of sex, entertainment, fun, a goal in life, basic needs and a good education. So yes, it’s a wrong move in this society.
Regards,
Anonymous
Day: November 13, 2009
Letter on sale of alcohol
Dear Editor,
The latest brouhaha on the government considering the sale of alcohol in inhabited islands is reflection of the deplorable state the whole country has descended into. We are seeing the typical self-righteousness that pervades everyone in the country. Why are we hell bent on enforcing our own personal beliefs and values on every one else?
Why cannot we let everyone be granted the privilege of deciding what is good for him or her? After all everyone is responsible for their own sins, and only their sins. Why is everything categorized stricty in terms of either halaal or haraam? It is not unusual to hear that this is halaal or that is haraam from some self-appointed preacher proxying as God’s voice.
Why is everyone so desperate in enforcing each one’s set of halaal and haraam on every one else? Why is each one’s opinions portrayed with absolute certainty as the only Islamic truth? It makes me wonder where in Islam it is allowed for liquor to be sold in resorts and nowhere else?
As long as we are not willing to let each one decide on his choice of beliefs we will descend further. There is so much chatter and noise in our society nothing useful can ever be achieved. Medina University is exporting a curse to the world at large. Every one is a preacher on good conduct and on religion. Everyone knows everything, but can do nothing.
Those who choose to drink alcoholic beverages will drink it either in resorts or abroad. The burden of deciding to drink or not to drink lies with each single person. After all, it is that person that faces a sentence in this world and punishment in the next. No one else has to share in his sins. The responsibility does not fall on Adhaalath party, and certainly not on TEAM.
Regards,
Naseem