Initiation issue

"To determine/ascertain the number of inter-married Parsi ladies who wish to have their children’s navjote performed... the Association of Inter-Married Zoroastrians (AIMZ) has decided to carry out an intensive survey,” notes a release from the president of the Association Meher Amersey. If children of outmar­ried Zoroastrian ladies were to be welcomed into the fold would a lot more of them be happy to have their navjotes performed? the AIMZ wishes to establish.

Through their 14 questions seeking primarily yes/no answers from inter-married Parsi ladies the AIMZ wants to ascertain the attitude of the women as also their spouses and their children. Do the outmarried ladies continue to profess the Zoroastrian faith? Do they visit the fire-temple? Have they been forbidden from entering the fire-temple?

The religion of the spouse and his compliance with the wife following the Zoroastrian faith is also checked out.

If the children of interfaith marriages have not been initiated into the Zoroastrian faith, would they be interested? Would they have the permission of the non-Parsi father? Are they awaiting the community’s acceptance? probes the questionnaire.

Finally the ladies are asked whether they would like to learn more about the Zoroastrian religion, whether their children are learning more about the religion after the navjote and whether they would like to send their children on weekends to further their knowledge of the Zoroastrian religion.

This survey is posted on their website: http://www.aimzindia.org For further enquiries Amersey can be contacted on her residence fax 23802911, office fax 24964848 or e-mail: aimzindia@on_lyne. com