“Parsi dog-ma”

I was appalled to read Faramarz B. Sethna’s letter "Parsi dog-ma” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, February 21, 2006) where he writes that Zoroastrians "treat humans of other faiths as inferior to Zoroastrians… inferior not only to us but even to dogs.” There are many anomalies (socioreligious) in our and every other community, but that does not mean that we denigrate other Indians.

I totally support Sethna’s plea that there is just no harm in showing the faces of Parsi corpses to the non-Parsis, henceforth. All non-Parsis are aggrieved by this anachronistic practice whereby we deny non-Parsis the privilege and etiquette of showing the faces of dead Parsis after the sachkar is performed.

This reform is urgently called for. Our prayers are so powerful that nothing can pollute the sacred environment around the pavi – and certainly not a gaze of a non-Zoroastrian. Is the gaze of a non-Parsi so powerful that it nullifies our prayers and sends the dead to hell?

BEHRAM T. DASTUR