Letter on alcohol on inhabited islands

Dear Editor,
The excellent article by Munirah Moosa on this subject gives a foreigner a great insight into some of the problems confronting the movement for reform in the Maldives, and I hope it is equally enlightening for Maldivians.
As an Irishman in the wake of the Ryan Report into sexual abuse by state ignored, if not actually endorsed, clerics, I am painfully aware of the dangers of equating Church with State, and would strongly advise any country to steer well away from such troubled waters.
As your columnist points out (without resource to cliché), you can lead a horse to water but it is up to the horse whether or not he avails of the facilities when he gets there. If anything, this is even more true of intelligent human beings following the dictates of an informed conscience, no matter which religion that conscience is informed by.
Regards,
Philip Cummings