From: The Parsee Voice
Date: Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:32 AM
Subject: TheParseeVoice Petition against Utsav in Udvada
To: the-parsee-voice@googlegroups.com
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Date: Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:32 AM
Subject: TheParseeVoice Petition against Utsav in Udvada
To: the-parsee-voice@googlegroups.com
Dear Readers,
Thanks for the support extended by the community in our efforts to protect the sanctity of Holy Iranshah. For those who have missed the mail earlier, kindly act immediately by voting in favour of the petition to the Prime Minister of India.
We oppose those actions which defile and denigrate the sanctity of our Holy Iranshah. He is our biggest benefactor for the last 1300 years and it is our bounden duty to protect HIM from harm.
We support the Government's efforts to improve infrastructure in Udvada. We are also not against attempts to showcase the community's track record of progress and harmony in India in the last millennium. However, holding of this Utsav in Udvada is damaging the sanctity of Holy Iranshah! Hence the request to the Prime Minister to instruct the organisers to hold future Utsavs at a location OTHER THAN UDVADA and thus prevent further spiritual damage to our holy entity, Iranshah!
An online version of the petition can be accessed via the following link:
For t
hose interested in signing
a hard copy, the same is attached herewith. Please print and get as many signatures as you can. The signed sheets may please be returned/mailed to the following address:
Ervad Bahadur Sanjana
R/13, Navroz Baug
Lalbaug, Mumbai 400 012
Maharashtra, INDIA
Regards
H. M. Mistry
Petition against holding Parsee Zoroastrian Utsav in Udvada
The Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister's Office
South Block, Raisina Hill
New Delhi-110 011.
Respected Shri Narendra Modiji,
Iranshah Udvada Utsav
At the outset, we wish to thank you for the admiration and affection showered by you on the
Parsee Zoroastrian community of India as also the support provided to the community by the
Central and State Governments, especially in improving the infrastructure in Udvada, the
place where Holy Iranshah Atash Behram is currently enthroned.
While we truly appreciate your sentiments in trying to showcase Udvada as a unique place
symbolising traditions of tolerance, harmony and progress in India, we, the traditional
members of the community, are gravely concerned about the Utsav recently held
in Udvada and the decision to hold it there every two years.
Holy Iranshah is a living, spiritually vibrant entity, thanks to the powerful consecration
ceremonies performed at the time of His installation. Magnetic circuits surround Him to
prevent entry of spiritual and physical pollution. He functions like a receiving and transmitting
station for the divine blessings of the Almighty. He is a warrior of the Almighty in the fight
against evil forces which attempt to overpower all creation. This spiritual prowess has been
nurtured and sustained over the centuries thanks to the various ceremonies which the priests
tending to him perform every day and which require spiritual, mental and physical piety of the
highest order. The serene and isolated location of Udvada and Iranshah, away from
the hustle and bustle of normal city life and the pollution - physical and spiritual,
associated with it, provides Iranshah the much needed spiritual seclusion,
necessary for maintaining His sanctity and well-being. The priests tending to Him
day and night are able to maintain their personal piety thanks to this seclusion and tranquillity
that Udvada offers as a location.
The laity who seek His blessings are also required to observe strict discipline and present
themselves before Him, reasonably free of spiritual and physical pollution.
Unfortunately, the Utsav has severely ravaged the very foundation of Holy
Iranshah's well-being and survival by compromising the seclusion and serenity
of Udvada. In their hurry to pay their respects and then attend the other festivities, many
attendees would not even have performed the minimum ablution and rituals necessary before
presenting themselves before holy Iranshah. An influx of over 2500 persons during the
Utsav would have naturally brought with it huge amounts of spiritual and
physical pollution, which has been deposited at His doorstep. One shudders to
think of the negative effect on Holy Iranshah's sanctity of this sudden and
voluminous onslaught of pollution, the karmic obligations of which will
definitely visit the community in general and the organisers in particular!
Thanks to huge crowds, even the priests tending to Him, who are required to observe strict
spiritual seclusion, had a real tough time while going to and from their houses to the Fire
Temple for performing their required daily rituals.
To add to all this, the Utsav even boasted of two nights of DJ music, karaoke and
a dance programme by indecently clad youngsters in close proximity to the Fire
Temple premises! Would such a sacrilegious act be permitted, say in Mathura
and Kashi or Mecca and Medina or Tirupati temple?? By doing this, the
organisers have shown open disrespect and lack of consideration for Iranshah's
sanctity!
To add insult to injury, Mr. Darius Khambata, ex-Attorney General of Maharashtra used the
Utsav as a platform to promote his pet topic of Conversion, which the organisers were well
aware of. He even went further to advocate entry into our holy Fire Temples to all those who
had been initiated into the Zoroastrian faith with a Navjote ceremony, which is nothing but
conversion by the back door. As the world at large is aware, Zoroastrianism
forbids Conversion. Worse still, instead of stopping him, one of the key
organisers of the Utsav, High Priest of Udvada, Dastur Khurshed K. Dastoor,
felicitated Mr. Khambata and reportedly silenced those who objected to this
speech. This clearly shows that the organisers of the Utsav were actually pushing
an agenda of religious reforms, using the Utsav as a convenient platform. It was
only when the community vociferously objected to this in print and on social media that Mr.
Khambata backtracked as a face-saving exercise.
All of this has grievously hurt the religious sentiments of a large majority of the
traditional members of the Zoroastrian community.
Subsequently, in an open letter to the community, the High Priests have averred
that remarks made by Mr. Khambata "..... at the religious and spiritual hub of
Zoroastrianism to a wide audience was both disrespectful and frankly
inflammatory." They have also cautioned against Conversion and mixed
marriages which would lead to diluting our Zoroastrian identity.
Sir, we are highly appreciative of your efforts to improve infrastructure in Udvada and support
the same. We are also not against attempts to showcase the community's track record of
progress and harmony in India in the last millennium. However, holding of this Utsav in
Udvada is damaging the sanctity of Holy Iranshah! This is amply clear from the
absence of the other High Priests, including the other senior High Priest of
Udvada, from any of the festivities and activities for all 3 days
Since you have expressed high regard for Holy Iranshah, we beseech you to
intercede and ensure Iranshah's sanctity by instructing the organisers to hold
future Utsavs at a location OTHER THAN UDVADA and thus prevent further
spiritual damage to our holy entity, Iranshah!
May Holy Iranshah guide your footsteps all through life!
Yours sincerely,
Petition dated 18.1.2016 against holding Parsee Zoroastrian Utsav in Udvada
Name of Signatory Address in brief Signature
