“We are bigger than...”

Putli Mirza has mounted an unprovoked attack on my integrity ("We are bigger than...” Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, May 2004).

Mirza states, "We tried for two years... and returned $ 18,486 to various individuals.” [The full quote was "We tried for two years and collected $ 18,486 in actual donation and another $ 32,000 in pledges. This is the $ 55,000 that Bharucha is talking about. This was done outside the jurisdiction of the ZSO (Zoroastrian Society of Ontario) and had nothing to do with the ZSO. When we failed to collect the two million needed for the agiary project we returned the $ 18,486 to the various individuals who had contributed towards this project.”] Mirza’s claim that her agiary campaign occurred around 1993 suggests that the monies were returned by 1995 at the latest.

In "We have to learn from the churches” (Parsiana, February 1999) it was stated, "the ZSO project to acquire a new place began two years ago but has only collected $ 55,000 so far.” Considering that Kobad Zarolia’s (former ZSO president, who was defeated) statement came almost four years later — it suggests that money that was collected in 1993 was returned in 1995; only to magically reappear in 1999 and disappear again in 2000. Who is speaking the truth? Zarolia or Mirza?

If Mirza feels that "without an agiary we are unable to perform any higher liturgical ceremonies,” there is nothing to stop her from donating a piece of her own vast estate of several acres for her agiary; nor is there anything to stop her from resigning from the ZSO muktad committee and join her friends in the OZCF (Ontario Zoroastrian Community Foundation), whose leadership primarily consists of candidates defeated in previous ZSO elections.

Her statement "I work closely...during the five Gatha days” appears to be a vainglorious attempt at self-edification. (The full quote was "I wish I can tell you what a great community we have in Ontario as I work very closely with it during the five Gatha days that we observe every year. I have nothing but respect for all our members and it was with immense sadness that I read Bharucha’s unkind and uninformed public letter.” The muktad leadership is provided by Ervad Bomanshaw Kotwal, head priest of Toronto; and the work is done by several devoted volunteers who work silently as opposed to Mirza who appears to be trumpeting her "investment in time and effort.” Her praise for Zarolia suggests that she is his mouthpiece.

Her claim that the monies were raised "outside... the ZSO,” suggests that she knowingly raised these funds for a rival organization while she was still a ZSO functionary (as chair of the ZSO’s muktad subcommittee). When word about Mirza’s "double-role” spread, her fund-raising collapsed, for which she is blaming me now.

Mirza claims to be "working for the good of the community,” yet she has not donated a single penny towards the new darbe meher, nor has she ever attended even a single fund-raising event, to my knowledge. In view of her landed assets, I am challenging Mirza to set a good example to the community. At the Shahenshahi muktads, there will be an opportunity for her to clear up the "misinformed and misguided” perception that she is using vulgar money power against the 78 percent majority decision to rebuild a new darbe meher at its current location. Instead of parroting the Zarolia-line, she should perhaps donate to the ZSO Building Campaign and follow-up by raising funds, from the devotees during muktad. Let us see exactly how devoted she is to the community’s democratic decision!

SAROSH BHARUCHA

Toronto, Canada