Referendum essential

One of the many services Parsiana renders is to provide data on interfaith marriages. You have stated that as many girls, as boys marry outside our fold. One in three marries outside.

An ugly controversy surfaced recently, as a consequence of the six High Priests’ diktat. Despite the retraction by three High Priests, the community still remains vertically split.

A part of the reason lies in the fact that the Association of Inter-Married Zoroastrians has no candlepower — forget horse­power.

Many questions arise out of this demographic equation:

•What should we do with the children of intermarried Zoroast­rians — particularly where the Parsi spouse has not changed his/her faith?

•Should we house them in our colonies/baugs (without an excep­tion, our covenants firmly stipulate that the lands and the structures thereon are meant for the habitation of Parsi Zoroast­rians).

•Should we throw out these families and further dilute our Zo­roastrian ethos and ethics?

•With emigration continuing (for various reasons), should we build more houses?

•The examples of depleting population in Mhow, Jamshedpur and Karachi are only illustrative.

The problem has been with the community for close to a 100 years, and interfaith marriages took place only amongst the elite.

The Parsi farmers in south and central Gujarat had umpteen mistresses, and our priests looked the other way. The offspring of these Parsi farmers and dubris provided "fodder” for doing menial jobs in our agiaries and dakhmas; because the fathers were Parsis, their navjotes and weddings were solemnized.

Now the situation is different; the elite continue to marry outside; the Parsi farmers and their dubri mistresses have dwin­dled in numbers, with the abolition of the zamindari system in Gujarat (and in most states); and 90 percent of those marrying outside are the educated, well placed middle-class.

This trend does not show any sign of stopping. Compared to Parsis, fewer Irani Zoroastrians marry outside.

This issue cannot be left only to the High Priests. Instead a referendum should be held not only in India but even abroad, in South East England, Toronto and in major pockets of the US and elsewhere.

Our dithering on this subject — and on many other subjects — is undermining our interests. It is time to wake up.

BEHRAM T. DASTUR