“World body stymied”

Thanks for the details and clarification on my insistence in using the term Parsis instead of Zoroastrians. I agree with all your musing and I have no doubt on its authenticity either. But what I just wish to stress is, that if we say we are soon to be an extinct race (God forbid) then shouldn’t we see to it that at least history and the subsequent generations remember us as ‘The Parsis.’ If we get into a Zoroastrian World Body we will not only be extinct but totally forgotten too. This is why I am very clear on inserting the word Parsi if we join the world body.

I was reciting my normal prayers. What I was reading was a prayer which is supposed to be very efficacious, and I would want to share it with the readers... Ya Noor a dustagir, dustagir a noor, karam kar karima, Rahem karo ya parvar­digar, Zarthust tere pad­shahi... Then the famous song known to all of us also goes thus… Khodavind O Khavind O Parvar-digar as also we often say… Pak Parvar-digar nee madad hojo ji...

What is glaringly common are the Urdu words like Noor, Parvardigar, Pak,... if these words are accepted and used by us Parsis as prayers then where is the harm in saying ‘Inshallah’? I think this should clear any so called insult to our Parsi Zarthusti sentiments at large and Zarthust Paigamber in particular. What we need to do is go beyond these childish squabbles.

Roda D. Hakim

Baroda

The Editors reply

The word Parsi may certainly appear in the constitution of the prosposed world body but it should not be the criteria for membership.