The sounds of silence

After Parsiana published my article "The duty of every Zoroastrian…” (March 21, 2006) pointing out that according to eminent scholars like Dr K. R. Cama, and Dasturs Jamaspi Mino­cherji Jamas Asa and Peshotan Sanjana conversion is enjoined in our faith, I received many letters and calls, supporting my stand. They asked whether the high priests and orthodox scholars had responded and explained why they disagree with such eminent scholars of yore. In fact this is the third time I have written on this subject, but, neither the high priests nor the so-called scholars like Khojeste Mistree, Adi Doctor or K. N. Dastoor have had the intellectual honesty to rebut the evidence of such eminent scholars though they vehemently claim that conversion is against the tenet of our religion.

One can conclude that they are silent as they have no scriptural evidence to support their claim. I assume that silence means consent.

The only exception is Dastur Nadir­shah Unvalla of Bangalore who has sent a long letter chastising me for preaching heresy and encouraging interfaith marriages, but unfortunately it is so garbled that it is difficult to understand his arguments and does not provide any evidence ("The duty of every...” Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, June 21, 2006).

The only treatise in the K. R. Cama library in support of their view was Conversion Caucus by Dr H. Mirza. Mirza’s book is in reply to an article by one Edulji in Parsiana (January 1971) saying that conversion is permitted. It is more like a professor correcting a student’s essay, criticizing his interpretations but not quoting the exact scriptural directive against conversion. He disagrees with other scholars like Dr Irach Taraporewala and Dastur (Dr) Maneck Dhalla. His conclusions are that "There is no word in Avesta for ‘to convert’ or for conversion in the sense of ‘change of religion;’ and never in their long and chequered history have the Zoroastrians adopted a policy of ‘conversion’ of non-Zoroastrians.” He however makes no reference to the famous and unanimous findings of the expert committee which stated unequivocally that "there is nothing in the Zoroastrian religion that forbids conversion, in fact it enjoins it” or the writings of scholars like Cama or Sanjana who even wrote a book prescribing the ceremonies to be followed for conversion. I consider it very unscholarly to totally ignore any evidence which does not fit his thesis.

Dhalla’s extremely well documented books are replete with actual scriptural sources. In his book Zoroastrian Theology while referring to happenings in the Avestan period he has stated:

"Zarathushtra first preached the religion to the people of Iran where he was born: but Ormazd has commanded that the excellent religion should be spread among all the races of mankind through the world...

"Those Zoroastrian missionaries traveled to distant lands for the purpose of promulgating the religion, and their homeward return from their sacred mission is celebrated by the faithful (Ys 42.6).”

"It is said that the act of the highest merit that a non-believer can perform in his life is to renounce his religion and embrace the Mazdayasni faith (Dinkard, Vol 10, bk 5.1, pg 12).”

Despite such historical data this is what former Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee and noted tax laywer Homi Ranina explained at the inaugural function to launch the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ): "It is a fallacy to conclude that Prophet Zarathushtra converted. He was God’s first divine messenger, so where is the question of converting any one when there was no other religion existing at that time?”

To quote Dhalla, "Zarathushtra definitely breaks with the religion of his forefathers. He started preaching his new religion and gave lengthy talks on subjects of great importance to eager listeners. The beliefs and practices of his hearers were irreconcilably alien from what he taught… The priests of the ancient faith were now alarmed… They accused him of preaching doctrines that were subversive of the religion of their forefathers, and the established forms of worship, and of blaspheming their gods (History of Zoroastrianism, pp: 18-24).”

Yet our pseudo scholars do verbal gymnastics trying to explain away what is plain and clear. Mistree explains that the Gathaic direction to spread Zoroastrianism to the seven corners of the world actually means that in the age of Zarathushtra the world of Zoroastrians was very small due to lack of transport. There was no knowledge about the seven regions. Obviously even Zarathushtra was not aware of seven regions, according to him. Dastur Firoze Kotwal’s explanation of this is even curioser: He says that "it means that may the Mazdayasni religion prosper among all Zoroastrians who are living in various regions of the world ("Keeping the faith” by Zarin Amrolia in Cybernoon.com).”

According to Dr Mary Boyce who Mistree and Kotwal consider their guru "The Prophet Zarathushtra, is known to us primarily from the Gathas, 17 great hymns which he composed and which have been faithfully preserved by his community... These are not works of instruction, but inspired, passionate utterances, many of them addressed directly to God… Such poetry can only have been fully understood by the learned; and since Zoroaster believed that he had been entrusted by God with a message for all mankind, he must also have preached again and again in plain words to ordinary people.”

It would be stretching our credibility to the extreme to think that our high priests are unaware of what is stated in our various scriptures. Our worthy high priests and scholars have indulged in "suppresio veri and suggestio falsi.” I hereby openly challenge any of our high priests to produce the evidence or admit that there is none.

My friends ask me why I am repeatedly writing on this issue and urging that the truth about conversion is revealed and openly discussed, even at the risk of being abused by the fundamentalists. Let me explain my reasons. It is because I have seen with my own eyes the misery that many Parsi children suffer, when due to this false belief, fanatical parents and ignorant priests penalize them in the name of our religion. In "An unzoroastrian act,” (Parsiana, June 7, 2006) Bombay Sama­char columnist Berjis Desai has recounted the shocking incident in Poona where a bigoted priest of the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Agiary denied admission to a Parsi lady married out under the Special Marriage Act but practicing the faith. No true religion can sanction such behavior, certainly not our great religion.

The second and equally important reason is that this issue has given an opportunity to unscrupulous preachers to divide our small community by scaring the orthodox into believing that our religion is in danger of being engulfed by outsiders, including Muslims, Africans and Brazilians and only under their leadership can the community be protected from such a catastrophy. They have thus been able to form cults, projecting themselves as messiahs, and encouraging their lumpen followers to indulge in disrupting meetings such as what happened at the meeting of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anju­mans of India in Ahmedabad in December 2004 where those who expressed views different from those of Mistree and Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat president Areez Khambatta were prevented from doing so and were abused.

The agenda of WAPIZ and The Parsee Voice is to protect the so-called pristine purity of the faith and allow only pure Parsi Irani Zoroastrians to practice it. What would be left of their agenda if this issue of conversion were not there? They would have to justify their existence by doing some creative social work, which they are incapable of, and have to resort to picnics and dinners to keep their flock! Hence their fanatical effort to keep this issue alive by not allowing open debate and preventing the truth from coming out. Hence this deafening silence!

The third reason is that average decent Parsis do not want to get involved in debates about the religion. If they express any opinion contrary to these views they are subjected to abuse by WAPIZ and The Parsee Voice. Otherwise why are our intelligent and highly educated and capable professionals, lawyers like Tehmtan Andhyarujina as well as Fali Nariman and Soli Sorabjee and many others not speaking out? Sorabjee is on TV so often speaking out against injustices as in the recent Aamir Khan case, yet it is a pity that such eminent persons keep quiet in a matter that concerns the future of our community, and allow bigots to have their way! What about the injustice to Parsi women and children? Why don’t they speak out against this?

My sincere suggestion is to let the truth about conversion be openly debated with all the evidence in our scriptures. It is too vital an issue to be ignored. Please note, I am not advocating wholesale conversion into the community, only selective conversion, particularly of children of Parsi mothers. Let us also discuss and debate whether at the present juncture we should allow this or not for social reasons, such as preserving our distinct identity, which we have done for so many centuries. After all even though in 1906 the expert committee unanimously held that conversion is enjoined and not prohibited, the community did not agree to practice this as it felt that it would be harmful at that point in time. Now once again this issue of selective entry can be debated, taking our present diminishing numbers into consideration.

It is sad that our leaders in the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) are not asking the opinion of all the high priests to justify their stand with evidence from our scriptures so that the true picture is known to the community. As the akabars they should not continue to sit on the fence and join the conspiracy of silence so as not to lose the votes of the orthodox. Surely the high priests will not dare to ignore their request to give advice and the scriptural evidence on which they rely. I would urge Minoo Shroff who has provided mature leadership to the BPP to act for the sake of the community. May I remind him that the BPP under Dr Aspi Golwalla’s leadership had taken a similar bold decision to allow the use of Doogerwadi by practicing Parsi Zoroastrian women married to non-Parsis despite the advise of high priests and the orthodox. I would also urge intelligent Parsis, especially those affected by this interpretation, to demand the truth and urge the BPP also to do their duty fearlessly. All those who feel strongly about it should write in our Parsi papers and to the high priests, so that the conspiracy of silence does not continue. Only vigorous public opinion can bring out the truth. How long can an intelligent and progressive community be silent on such a vital issue?

A retired Indian Administrative Services officer, Jamsheed G. Kanga held senior posts in government including that of the municipal commissioner of Bom­bay. He is at present a senior corporate advisor to the Tata group of companies. A former trustee of the Bombay Parsi Puncha­yet, he is on the board of several companies and is active in heritage conservation and town planning.