Rewriting history

Justifying their decision to rescind a resolution passed by them on February 6, 2001 permitting the use of the Doon­ger­wadi bunglis for those opting for alternate methods of disposal, four trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), Minoo Shroff, Dinshaw Mehta, Dadi Engineer and Burjor Antia, noted in a letter to the Jam-e-Jamshed of February 11, 2007, "The trustees are governed by the trust deed and the objects stated therein. The trust deed clearly specifies that the Doongerwadi lands are to be used only for those who follow the dakhmenashini system. Further this is fortified by the centuries-old custom followed by our community and the unanimous views conveyed by the high priests, in writing. The high priests have specified clearly that the decomposition of the dead bodies should be by exposure to the rays of the sun i.e. khurshed nagirashni, as this is the only religiously prescribed mode of disposal of the dead. Further, they have opined that the dakhmenashini system cannot be tampered with, even in the absence of vultures. Several legal opinions obtained by us, also confirm this.

"This apart, there have been various Press articles that some leading members of the community are moving the High Court for seeking a direction whether the existing bunglis could be used for those members of the community opting for alternative methods of disposal…

"This matter is likely to come up before the High Court shortly. The trustees would certainly abide by the decision of the Court.”

The Jamé of January 28, 2007 had reported that Burjor Antia and Dinshaw Mehta, bowing to pressure from the orthodox group, prevailed on the other trustees (barring Dinshaw Tamboly and Maneck Engineer) to take this step. Berjis Desai had, in his column in The Bombay Samachar of January 14, 2007, anticipated this move. He wrote that the trustees were contemplating steps to revoke or water down the resolution so that they could wriggle out of the BPP’s earlier decision before the Originating Summons filed in the Bombay High Court in January 2007 by Jamsheed Kanga, Dr Aspi Golwalla and Homi Khusrokhan came up for hearing.

In an article titled "Let sense prevail” published in Jam-e-Jamshed on March 11, 2001, chairman Shroff, trustees Dadi Engineer and Tamboly had spelt out the BPP’s rationale for passing the resolution thus: "As trustees, we have to think with our heads and feel with our hearts and take decisions based on virtual realities…. After much deliberation, a perusal of our trust deeds and advice from the legal fraternity, we (trustees) arrived at the conclusion that it was indeed, under law, obligatory for us to allow the use of bunglis to those who wished to have the prayers performed at Doongerwadi and thereafter remove the body to a place other than Doongerwadi for cremation or any other mode of disposal. It should however be known that the trustees took the decision not only in due deference of the law, but also to save the existing system, sustain and strengthen it.”

As is well known, this resolution was never implemented as the orthodox and high priests pressurized the BPP to shelve it. However, it remained very much on record until the trustees rescinded it to save themselves major embarrassment at the time of hearing of the Originating Summons on the use of bunglis for after death ceremonies by all Zoroastrians irrespective of the mode of disposal.