“Fooled and fooling”

The postponing of the executive council meeting of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) from June 4-5 to August has caused the west zone Federation vice president and Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat (APP) president, Areez Khambatta to pen a strong letter of protest to the Federation and Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) chairman Minoo Shroff. The Federation meeting was adjourned purportedly "since no response is expected from other global constituents of the world body to our representation till June 2005... hence it is decided to defer the next meeting to some time in August 2005” stated the letter from Federation joint honorary secretary Keki J. Gandhi to all member anjumans.

Parsiana reproduces the letters exchanged between Shroff and Khambatta, copies of which were circulated to all anjumans and foreign federations, etc.

From the desk of Mr Areez P. Khambatta, 12th May, 2005

Dear Minoobhai

Sub: Postponement of the Federation meeting

I was not only surprised but extremely disturbed receiving a circular from our honorary secretary wherein he has indicated that the next meeting of our FPZAI which was scheduled to be held on June 4 and 5 will now be deferred to August 2005.

In my dual capacity as president of APP and vice president (west zone) of the FPZAI, I take strong exception and protest against this arbitrary postponement of the meeting. Courtesy demands that at least the vice presidents of the various zones should have been consulted before taking such a hasty and unne­cessary decision. I regret to state that this was not done.

Khambatta (left) and Shroff: "impor-tant issues”

Moreover you very well know that August won’t be convenient to most of our anjuman members because of the muktad and then the New Year celebrations. Further, the purported reason for this postponement is on the flimsy ground that "since no response is expected from the other global constituents of the world body to our representation till June 2005.”

I fail to understand as to how our honorary secretary can predict that no response is expected for two months. His state­ment is absurd and again fooling our Federation anjumans. On the one side you boast that our Federation is playing a leading role in the formation of this world body, then why have no replies still come from any of the presidents of our counterparts abroad although nearly 150 days have elapsed?

I had informed you in our Ahmedabad Federation meeting in December as well as in my letter to you three months back that:

"I had told you all earlier also that they will never agree to the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian membership clause as that would not only create a conflict amongst them but would also break down their organization and so there was no sense even informing nor waiting for their reply.”

Even in my letter of March 14, I had reminded to you as under:

"Now coming to the main point of my letter regard(ing) the forma­tion of the three cosmopolitan world bodies which you have evaded and which would hence create a wrong impression and which needs to be corrected so please reply immediately as president of FPZAI about this main point only which is missing in your letter and about which all the presidents of the FPZAI members are anxiously waiting for. So why are you silent on this point and what are you waiting for as more than two and a half months have elapsed so let us be honest about the whole thing and put an end to this ‘Hope against Hope’ once and for all instead of allowing oursel­ves to be fooled and fooling our Federation members as well. As a matter of fact you should encourage us in the formation of this World Body of Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians as per our Federation constitution with headquarters in Bombay so that our dear humdins of India could get the maximum benefits out of it as explained in details in both my letters of February 7 and February 17 to you.”

As you are aware that most of the Anjumans who are members of the Federation have expressed their strong opposition to joining such a controversial and potentially dangerous cosmopoli­tan world body and so have all our seven High Priests. Postponing the Federation meeting for the sake of the World Zoroastrian Congress raises several doubts and suspicions in the minds of all right thinking anjumans and humdins even after explaining (to) you the drawbacks and disadvantages of the formation of this cosmopolitan world body of individuals in London instead of Bombay is the issue of joining the controversial cosmopolitan world body more important than the other vital issues that were pointed out in my letter of March 14 and which I repeat once more as under: "Instead we should have discussed as suggested by me even if it was not on the agenda the problems of our dear humdins of defunct anjumans and their valuable properties worth crores of rupees being devoured because of our delay and negligence. Simi­larly their rehabilitation as well as of those poor humdins living scattered in far off places and who have nowhere else to go and complain nor are they in the habit of going about with a begging bowl and who really need Federation help the most. So we must first look after them and their survival instead of neglect­ing our real needy humdins. Even in our efforts for matrimonial alliance we have not received a single form filled from BPP although it is one of the most important issues facing the Fed­eration because of the problem of mixed marriages etc, etc and here also neither was it taken on the agenda nor was there any discussions of how best to deal with it jointly. Are we not confusing our priorities?”

To the above points mentioned in my earlier letters to you, I would like to add that recently the secular Press has widely reported the desecration of some of our agiary properties, which also should be looked into by the Federation immediately.

As you can see, the Federation has extremely important issues it needs to address urgently. Yet the Federation meeting is arbitrarily postponed because of not receiving a response to the world body farce from abroad? Are we not confusing our prior­ities?

One is inclined to suspect that important decisions may be taken in London by some of our leaders and then put before the Federation as a fait accompli after the Congress. This would be most undemocratic and high-handed. As the president of the Fed­eration you are well aware that the majority in India are opposed to the idea of forming or joining the new cosmopolitan world bodies. As a well regarded leader of the community I am sure that you will demonstrate statesmanship and respect the feelings and sentiments of the Parsi/Irani community in India.

FPZAI should owe allegiance to its member anjumans of India and not bend over backwards to appease our counterparts abroad who have, even before joining, started dictating terms to us. As FPZAI president you should put an end to this bias against our coreligionists in India. I therefore request you not to postpone our Federation meeting and to hold it as scheduled. The FPZAI needs to give priority to and address some of the more burning issues which will benefit our dear humdins in India than waste time and other resources over a cosmopolitan world body of Zo­roastrians.

I end my letter on a happier note, by extending to you an invitation for the launch of our Parsi/Irani World Body, WAPIZ, whose formation we had to expedite in keeping with the wishes of the majority of the community. You will be soon getting an offi­cial invitation so please keep free the evening of Saturday May 28, when there will be a jashan by 100 mobeds at 5 p.m. at Banaji Atash Behram followed by the launch and dinner at 7 p.m. at Royal Western India Turf Club, Bombay.

With best regards

Sincerely

Areez Khambatta

Dear Areezbhai

The reason which necessitated postponement has been amply clari­fied in the circular. In fact all the other vice presidents have appreciated this and have raised no issue.

There has been no response from the global constituents despite reminders. We cannot possibly bulldoze them into taking a decision as they are totally independent entities.

I feel it is high time we leave acrimony behind and look forward to grapple with the many issues the community is facing. In fact this was what was intended at Ahmedabad. However, it was not to be for reasons best known to many who disrupted the meet­ing. Their object was made manifestly clear from the outset namely that they had come only to discuss the world body. This feeling was not at all hidden from the participants.

Let me state very categorically that what the Bombay Parsi Punchayet is doing in the fields of — housing, demography and fertility; rekindling self-reliance by way of support to WZCC (World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce) and Venture Capital; extending financial assistance to the needy et al; cannot be matched by all the anjumans in India put together or even globally. Hence giving priority to these issues need not be stressed as far as we are concerned. These topics will be dis­cussed at the next Federation meeting in depth.

As far as the world body is concerned, it has been insinuat­ed time and again that at the World Zoroastrian Congress in London in June, some of our leaders will take important decisions and present ‘a fait accompli’ to the FPZAI at the meeting in September. Nothing can be farther from the truth. There is no final draft constitution on the table as far as we are concerned. If you have one, please enlighten us by sending a copy, as appar­ently you seem to be better informed of the developments than we are. Besides it was categorically stated by us at the last Fed­eration meeting that the response received from the global con­stituents will be circulated to all the members of the anjumans to be discussed and debated, before the final decision is taken.

In fact even before the response was received from the global constituents, you have all gone ahead with the formation of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) under your chairmanship. Hence anticipating the shape and size of the world body at this stage before deliberations take place in London, is a futile exercise.

I trust you are attending the World Zoroastrian Congress. If you do, I am positive you will get a much wider appreciation of the problems facing the community as seen from a global perspec­tive.

I thank you for your invitation to attend the launch of WAPIZ on May 28. I am unable to do so as I have an earlier com­mitment.

With kind regards

Sincerely

Minoo Shroff

Khambatta met the trustees on May 25 and again extended an invitation to the May 28 launch which was reportedly declined by all the trustees save Dinshaw R. Mehta.