Triumphant in Thana

"Saturday, January 29, 2005 will go down as an important day in the history of the Thana Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman (TPZA). It witnessed the largest turnout in living memory to elect the trustees for the next three-year term. As many as 348 members (out of a total of 491 eligible voters) turned up to cast their vote thanks to a lot of intense campaigning that preceded the election. One of the reasons for the high voter turnout (71 percent) was sparked off by the ill-fated attempt of Zoroastrian Studies (ZS), The Parsee Voice and others to influence the Thana voters by sending out circulars and telephone calls to individual members of the Anju­man.” This communiqué dated February 2, 2005 was issued by Rustom Cursetji and Pervez Bhesania, the reelected president and vice president of the Thana Anjuman.

Having served as an uncontested president of the Thana Anjuman since 1977, this was the first time that Cursetji had to solicit votes: Burjore Thanawala’s nomination had come in for the post of president and Kersi Daruwala’s as vice president against Bhesania. "But the Thana Parsis have spoken their mind and voted for all the nine members of the previous managing committee (who stood for reelection) with a thumping majority. This is obviously a vote for peace and for progress through constructive interac­tion and a vote against emotional blackmail,” added the communi­qué.

The seven committee members who were reelected were Zarsis Udhnawala, Katy Gandevia, Bomi Boyce, Kaizad Bilimoria, Dara Wadia, Rumi Kasad and Rusi Mohta. Rusi Gandevia was the only member from the opposition camp to win the elections as Godrej Sachinwala, Dilara Mehta, Nawaz Taraporewala and Darius Vewaina who were contesting as committee members were unsuccessful.

Clockwise from top left: Cursetjee, Bhesania, Boyce, R. Gandevia,Wadia, Billimoria, K. Gandevia, Mohta, Kasad and Udhnawala

The Thana Anjuman office bearers, particularly Cursetji and Bhesania, had earned the wrath of Khojeste Mistree of ZS as also of The Parsee Voice for being among the anjumans who refused to sign the petition purportedly supported by 24 anjuman representatives at the last executive council meeting of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) in Ahmedabad on December 19, 2004. The 24 signatories were adamant that "under no circumstances should the constitution of the proposed world body be signed by the office bearers of the FPZAI” unless the conditions specified by them were met.

Mistree’s seven-page letter dated December 14, 2005 (but which was apparently meant to read January 14, 2005) addressed to the Thana Anjuman members sought to discredit Cursetji in the eyes of his electorate. Referring to Cur­set­ji’s letters of Decem­ber 27, 2004 and January 4, 2005 (wherein the Thana Anjuman trustees had presented their version of the unruly proceedings at the Federation meeting in Ahmedabad), Mistree concluded, "Curset­ji and company have through their two letters not only discarded the truth but have sought to misdirect the readers. By doing so they have gone against both the letter and spirit of the very institution whose trusteeship is vested in them. Religious reali­ty is not a negotiable instrument to play around with, as Curset­ji and his friends have tried to do. Clearly their intentions are to support and create a world body, mainly to facilitate the entry of converts into our midst. They have through their letters chosen to de-link the Parsi/Irani ethnicity of the community from the religion by seeking to create a world body which over a period of time will totally marginalize the Parsi/Irani Zoroast­rians globally.

"In the final analysis a world body with a flawed consti­tution is not going to bring about any sense of unity and fellow­ship within the community. Let us strive for peace, prosperity and goodwill within our community and thereby show allegiance to our own people first.”

A three-page rejoinder dated January 20, 2005 jointly signed by all the 11 managing committee members of the Thana Anjuman stated, "Just as the formation of the Federation has consolidated the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians within the country, it is obvious that the formation of (a) World Zoroastrian Organisation of Federations would similarly consolidate the community at the global level...The Federation has been instrumental in bringing all the 69 anjumans of India onto a single platform to discuss and deliberate on the serious issues facing the community. If today there is a dialog between the representative bodies of the far flung anjumans of India, the credit goes to the Federation. We in Thane are particularly grateful to the Federation for supporting our litigation in the Bombay High Court against the illegal sale of Parsi Trust proper­ty which resulted in the construction of a six-storey building with 50 ownership tenements at a concessional rate exclusively for Parsis.”

As appears from the correspondence, Cursetji was among the 15-20 representatives of anjumans who were invited to Mis­tree’s residence on October 17, 2004 to oppose the formation of the world body. "Our contribution at that meeting was to contain the loose accusations against the office bearers of the Federa­tion that sought to devalue the contributions made by (president) Minoo Shroff and (joint honorary secretary) Keki Gandhi...” noted the Thana trustees’ clarification.

When Mistree sought a platform to address the members of the Thana Anjuman, the trustees invited him on December 10, 2004. "In fact at the meeting in Thane I discussed the importance of maintaining a Parsi/Irani ethnic identity fused to the Zoroast­rian religion as it has been through the centuries. Today however the word Zoroastrian has been extended to include non-Parsi/Iranis from Africa, South America and elsewhere, namely those who merely ‘profess to be Zoroastrians.’ This is why it is imperative that in the proposed world body it should be clearly stated that the membership is for Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians only, so as to leave no room for confusion,” mentioned Mistree’s mis­sive. He had also circulated a color Xerox sheet bearing images of recent converts to Zoroastrianism in Brazil, South America and Belarus. "The issue of Zoroastrianism being a non-proselytizing faith from a historical point of view (both before and after the Parsi/Irani arrival to India) was also discussed. In fact throughout the meeting Mr Cursetji took on the role of being the devil’s advocate by asking a series of questions which I wel­comed...” continued Mistree.

Countered the Thana trustees: "The apprehension that the formation of the world body is tantamount to accepting and en­couraging converts to our religion and that this will result in neo-Zoroastrians swamping our community and even taking over the valuable assets of the Parsi baugs, agiaries and even the dakhmas...are at best the outcome of a fevered imagination...What really nails the lie is the fact that as of today there are no more than six non-Zoroastrian spouses as members of the WZO of individuals and not a single convert...All of us recognize Mr Mistree to be an excellent orator with the power to sway audienc­es...We personally have been very impressed by his speeches and we particularly recall a talk that he had delivered in Thane more than a decade ago... (when he) had commented disapprovingly of rating the ethnicity higher than that of the religion... It is indeed surprising that after so many years it is the same Mr Mistree who propounds that ethnicity and religion are inseparable and any dilution of ethnicity would be at the risk of the very survival of our religion...it also betrays a very low level of confidence on the strength of the basic tenets and value systems of our ancient religion to survive the test of time. We strongly believe that there has been a very distinct change in Mistree’s attitude ever since he has declared himself politically active. Politics and religion make for an explosive cocktail and with all due respect to Mr Khojeste we request him to desist from exploiting his religious scholarship for political ends... It is indeed most unfortunate that an individual of Mr Mistree’s caliber has adopt­ed populist tactics which are more like those of local politi­cians rather than those of leaders of the commu­nity...One of these related to the meeting held at Framjee Cawasjee Hall...when thanks to free bus rides, etc Mr Mistree and his friends were able to collect 700 members into the hall and successfully re­jected the proposal to build a seven-storied residential complex on the grounds of the Dadysett Atash Behram. While Mr Khojeste can claim a victory of sorts, what the community lost was the generous support of Mr Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry who had promised to build a complex of 70 residential flats in place of the pre­sent building which accommodates only seven families...” (At this meeting Cursetji and Bhesania were the only two who opposed the passing of the resolution thereby earning Mistree and his colleagues’ ire.)

The Thana committee forwarded a copy of this letter to Mistree "with a sincere request to refrain from contributing to disharmony in our community.” Actually discontent has been sim­mering within the Anjuman over the last few years on the issue of residents of Patell Apartments at Thana maintaining that they are entitled to sell the flats (which they were allotted at conces­sional rates by the Agiary Trust) at the prevailing market rate. The matter was taken to the courts at three judicial levels and even sought to be resolved with the help of a mediator. But the impasse remains and currently about 35 of the owners have stopped paying their outgoings.

A disappointed Bhesania notes in his letter of February 12, 2005, "We would like to point out the double standard of Zoroastrian Studies and The Parsee Voice and some others who on one side claim that they want the world body or any other organization reserved for Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians only and they talk much about Parsipanu, but to get political mileage/advantage they supported the group of members who contested the recent TPZA election and who have filed a writ petition against our Trust and others asking de-registering of our existing society (exclusively for Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians) to register their proposed society (thrice rejected) on standard model bye-laws, not necessarily even for Zoroastrians (leave aside Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians).”

The trustees were also accused of favori­tism in allotment and even in mismanagement of funds. Out of 49 flats allotted at Ahuna, 80 flats at Patell Apartments and 12 at Shroff Building, those allotted to the relatives of trustees do not account for more than eight, insists Cursetji, and that too only because they qualified as per the merit rating system. A coterie of eight residents from Patell Apartments "have been training their guns” on Bhesania who is a trustee of the Anjuman as also the Agiary Trust and "has brought in a lot of financial discipline.” While Cursetji has just retired as vice president, research and development, from the Associated Cement Companies, Bhesania is a director and partner in Aavan-Mazda Group of compa­nies, manufacturers in the field of electronics and sup­pliers to electronic giants like Philips, L&T, etc.

Within five days of the trustees’ circular, Mistree countered, "I abhor intellectual dishonesty and will not remain a mute spectator when confronted with the same...I have no personal interest in the outcome of the impending elections in Thane. My main concerns are with regard to the damaging consequences for the community if BPP/FPZAI join this proposed cosmopolitan world body and your support of this body in which the Parsi and Irani identity have been intentionally dropped. Your attempts to mis­repre­sent my views to your members and misconstrue my motives are in bad taste.” His letter was accompanied by a communiqué from Areez Khambatta, vice president of the FPZAI who wanted to clari­fy "a lot of wrong information (which) is being spread about the proposed cosmopolitan world body and the Federation meeting in Ahmeda­bad.” His letter concludes, "Do not believe the lies spread by the biased Parsi media and individuals with vested interest. Let us immediately form a Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian world body in which membership is open only to Parsis/Iranis.”

A day prior to the elections the three Thana office bearers sent yet another circular to the anjuman to contain "several deliberate and mischievous lies spread by our over enthusiastic and/or misinformed opponents” to the effect that the Thana representatives were in favor of conversion or of admitting neo Zoroastrians into the world body. "The issue of formation or joining the world body which has been under discussion for the last 20 years is being very ably handled by...Shroff... and Gandhi...We are sure that under their leadership we shall be able to cross the hurdles and that they will be able to not only emerge as the leaders in India but that India and Mumbai in particular and of course our Thana will show the way for consoli­dating and strengthening our community at a global level...”

As noted Cursetji and Bhesania in their letter of Febru­ary 2, "We believe that all issues can be resolved through dis­cussions and on the question of formation of the world body, our objective is a solution that is universally acceptable and re­spects the sensibility of the community with regard to both perpetuating the religion as well as preserving our ethnic issue.” Preferring to spend their time on creative issues instead of quibbling, the residents of Thana were looking forward to the two-day festivities on February 23-24, 2005 which would bring to a close the 225th anniversary celebrations of their Cawasji Patell Agiary.