Facts and fiction

The WAPIZ Page in the Afternoon Despatch and Courier of March 8, 2007 has hit out at Ali Jafarey’s recently formed World Zoroastrian Council (WZC), calling it "an organization headed and run by converts” claiming to be a representative body for Zoroastrians. Other than Jafarey who has been elected chairman, Homer Abramian, "a Muslim convert from Iran” is promoter and founder member. "WAPIZ cautions our global community against this WZC and emphasizes that such a body can never claim to represent the Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community (Jafarey never claims to — editors).” It goes on to allege that "this is just one more of Jafarey’s ‘fund collecting’ organizations, chai­red by ‘Ahriman Ali’ himself and supported by Dina McIntyre who recently was in Bombay to give her talk on her unscholarly version of Zoroastrianism!”

The WAPIZ statement that "WZO representatives, Rumi Sethna and Dinshaw Tamboly’s presence at founder member and promoter Abramian’s Paris conference in October 2006, once again exposes the WZO-Ali Jafarey nexus” has been strongly refuted by WZO chairman Sammy Bhiwandiwalla. Writing from London, he has asked the Afternoon Despatch and Courier and WAPIZ if they have "any proof of this and to print it.” He goes on to say: "We are absolutely certain that you or WAPIZ will not be able to do this, as the scurrilous statement made is a lie, lie and nothing but a lie, in fact a nexus of lies… Time and again, WAPIZ, which prides itself as an Irani Parsi Zoroastrian organization, has spewed out falsehoods blatantly in your newspaper through paid advertisements in the form of articles. How can WAPIZ claim to be real Irani Parsi Zoroastrians when they do not understand and follow the basic principle of Zoroastrianism, Asha, truth? We regret to say that those who make such false statements, not once but repeatedly, and do not have the decency to apologize or mend their ways, demean themselves and are beneath contempt.”

Tamboly has clarified that the "statement made by WAPIZ is fallacious. I have not attended the meeting in question.”