Date: Sun, Jan 3, 2016 at 2:00 PM
Subject: TheParseeVoice Open Letter to BPP Chairman
To: the-parsee-voice@googlegroups.com
The Chairman
Bombay Parsi Punchayet
Dear Mr. Yazdi Desai,
Radical views expressed by Mr. Darius Khambata at the Iranshah Udvada Utsav
At the recently concluded Iranshah Udvada Utsav, which you attended, Mr. Darius Khambata, Ex-Advocate General of Maharashtra is reported to have made a comment that "Anyone can convert to Zoroastrianism. There is no bar in our religion." He further said that religious texts like the Gathas enjoined Zoroastrians to spread the faith. To make matter worse, he also advocated opening up of fire temples to anyone who had been initiated into the Zoroastrian faith with a navjote ceremony.
While these may be his personal views, it is downright shameful that a person of his professional stature made such anti-religious comments in the holy environs of Udvada. What is even more galling is the support extended to him by Dastur Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor, Head Priest of Iranshah and his felicitation by the organisers. It is highly unacceptable that a High Priest of Iranshah advocates such heterodox views which, if implemented, would result in disastrous consequences for the whole community.
Many members of the community are extremely concerned as they perceive this to be part of a sinister agenda of the heterodox members of our community to foist conversion on the community and encourage all and sundry to enter our holy Fire Temples, which is completely against the tenets of our lofty religion and also against the trust deeds of the respective Fire Temples. This is especially so since Mr. Khambata made similar statements at the last World Zoroastrian Congress held in Mumbai in December 2014, and in spite of that, the organisers thought it fit to invite him to Udvada, give him a platform and felicitate him.
We appeal to you as leaders of the community to counter this statement by releasing an official communique to the community that the establishment does not support Mr. Khambata's views in any way. A show of solidarity by the BPP with the community at this sensitive juncture would be highly appreciated and would go a very long way in showing the heterodox members of our community that such 'personal opinions' have no locus standi in matters of long-standing tradition and religious matters.
Thanking-you,
Yours sincerely,
Hanoz M. Mistry
Ms. Rita F. Doctor
Kaizad F. Kerawalla
Ervad Behram P. Dhabhar
Ervad Bahadur B. Sanjana
Jimmy Tavadia
Yazdi P. Munsif
Khushnood Viccaji
Mehernosh Zaveri
Nauzer Sutaria
cc: The Editor
Jame Jamshed Weekly
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "The Parsee Voice".
To post to this group, send email to theparseevoice@gmail.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/the-parsee-voice?hl=en
No comments:
Post a Comment