“Hurting the feelings”

The Doongerwadi controversy currently raised in the Parsi community, and so far confined in its own quarters, has now reached a crescendo when one-sided publicity is given in the national papers, as evidenced from the report appearing in the Mumbai Mirror of August 30, 2006. The controversy is not of recent origin. It has cropped up from time to time in the course of the last more than 50 years.

The community has preserved this time-tested tradition for the disposal of the dead in India without even a modicum of murmur from the members of other communities with whom it is privileged to enjoy the most cordial relations. It is a matter of regret that some of the more vociferous members of this enlightened community have once again started to assail this system, which has been hailed as one of the most scientific in the world, thereby hurting the feelings of a preponderantly large section of the community. The lady who has spearheaded this campaign in the national newspapers and TV channels appears to be only a pawn in the game of chess played by an influential minority who are the main players behind the scene.

That there is no flaw in the system is hailed even by prominent foreign personalities and scholars. This is what Madam H. P. Blavatsky stated (more than a century ago): "The Towers of Silence on the heights of Malabar hills is the last abode for the sons of Zoroaster. It is in fact a Parsi cemetery. Here their dead, rich and poor, men, women and children are all laid in a row exposed to the open sun. The tropical sun scorches the bodies into such a state of fragility that the slightest breath of wind is enough to reduce them to powder and to carry them down into the pit. No smell is left behind nor source of plagues or epidemics. Sunlight is found to be the great destroyer of disease and malignant microbes on earth and also in the dokmeh, as in fact the good old Mazda Yasna science proclaims as the sun is the most powerful disinfectant and sanitary agent in nature.”

And this is what John Hinnells stated regarding dakhmas, "One of the aims of the ceremonies for the dead is therefore to preserve others from the pollution that is abundantly present. The strict regulations concerning the treatment of corpse have undoubtedly been of hygienic value in a climate like India.”

Again, this is what Monier Williams, a leading professor at Oxford University observed of the Towers of Silence: "The Parsi method of disposing their dead bodies is perfect as anything can be in a sanitary point of view. There is no spot in Bombay, where the breeze appears so healthful as in the beautiful gardens, which surround the Towers.”

In spite of the aforesaid, those in the community who oppose the system allege that the system has failed because of the lack of vultures at Doongerwadi. However, they lose sight of the fact that the sun and the wind play quite a prominent role, and even the rains are capable of disposing the mortal remains in a relatively slow but eco friendly manner. The vultures only speed up the process. The system therefore can fail only when the sun stops shining over the universe.

It may also be explained that with the vultures disappearing, the trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) who are the custodians of this property and who are duty bound to uphold this tradition, have been trying to strengthen the system by installing solar concentrators on the periphery of the dakhmas. It is said that by the installation of this method, within a couple of hours, desiccation/dehydration commences and because of this, no offensive odor emanates. According to one of the corpse bearers, by the fifth day, only the mere skeleton is left. So what takes regular sunlight some more time to achieve, is hastened up by the solar concentrators in a matter of five to six days. The system is also quite cost effective as compared to the other systems prevailing in the country.

The bogey of ‘not too pleasant a sight’ and ‘health hazard’ had been raised even more than 40 years ago when the vultures were plenty. In spite of the lapse of time no epidemic has so far been noticed. Not a single corpse bearer has been afflicted. One cannot discard a system which has been followed by the community for hundreds of years on an imaginary ground of health hazard which in all probability may not occur considering what is stated above. Would conceding to the demand for an exclusive bungli on the Doongerwadi property for prayers for those who opt for an alternative system of disposal, side by side, eliminate the chances of health hazard, when a vast majority opt to continue with the existing system? This system which was once prevalent in Iran for more than a thousand years, and thereafter in India for more than 300 years, has really stood the test of time.

It may be emphasized that no sight of a dead body whether it is cremated, buried or consigned to the dakhmas is a pleasant sight to behold. Just as the relatives of a deceased cannot observe the sight of a dead body in a coffin, no relative can observe the same in the dakhmas. It can only be in an imaginary mind. Our own imagination would exhibit the same feeling for the dead under all these methods.

There is also a logical background behind this system. The concept of charity finds place in the Avestan scriptures of the Zoroastrian religion. One of the scriptures reads as under:

"O Mazdayasni Zoroastrian, hold your hand, feet and mind steady, so that you may do suitable and timely deeds of goodness and charity. Faith, hope and charity, the three pillars of religion have their basis in love typified by Meher. To uphold these pillars one has to be steadfast in faith, joyful in hope and sound in charity.”

The system is in consonance with the theory to do charity, whilst you live, and do charity, whilst you die.

Again, no other method of disposal of the dead is permissible on this property because of the provisions of the relevant trust deeds in terms of which this property was settled on trust. This issue was also considered when pursuant to demands of a vociferous minority section of the community the trustees of the BPP caved in momentarily. There were large protests from a very sizeable section of the community backed by public meetings, and thousands of signatures from community members. The trustees had to rescind this resolution bowing down to the public demand. The trustees have actually no choice, as when they are elected, it is invariably mentioned in their manifesto. They have sworn in an affidavit that they would protect and preserve the customs and traditions of the community. Any deviation therefrom would amount to breach of trust.

There is also the freedom of choice. Those who do not want to opt for this system are free to choose any alternate method of disposal elsewhere, as some of the community have been doing. Surely a loquacious minority cannot cajole the silent majority into submission.

It is stated that the last days of the last Persian King Yazdegird Sheheriar were replete with internecine warfare amongst the Persian Zoroastrians. King Yazde­gird lost his kingdom as a result. The protagonists opposed to the system may just take a cue from this.

Former chairman of the Bombay Parsi Pun­-cha­­yet, Eruch Desai is senior partner of the noted law firm, Mulla and Mulla and Craigie Blunt and Caroe.