Ahmedabad's June elections?

Bombay is not the only city in the throes of community elections. Elections for the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat (APP) board of trustees and managing committee are scheduled for June 2007. APP trustee Farokh Kavina said in a telephone conversation that a meeting of the trustees will be held soon to finalize the exact date for the election, filing of nominations and other required procedures. Kavina says that despite family pressures to the contrary, he intends to stand for reelection.

Other potential candidates in the fray will include Porus Karanjawalla, Navroze Kanga, Kersi Shethna, Firoze Davar and Kersi Daruwalla amongst others, believes Kavina. The present chairman Areez Khambatta may not seek reelection due to health problems, state informed sources.

The APP elections were overdue but the trustees stated they were awaiting sanction of written amendments to the constitution from the charity commis­sioner’s office. "We want to go ahead,” with the elections, asserted Kavina. The last elections were held in December 2000. The term of office is five years.

Karanjawalla, a trustee who resigned claiming it was wrong to stay on without fresh elections, noted that potential aspirants are keeping mum on their candidature for the present. Once the dates are set, candidates will come forth, he stated.

There are five trusteeship seats and 10 managing committee seats, all of which will be up for election. Kavina noted that last time also the trusteeship seats were contested.

Karanjawalla states that out of the 1,700 or so Zoroastrian residents in Ahmedabad, 1,100 to 1,200 are members of the anjuman and thereby eligible to vote in the election.

PRG in the fray

In Bombay, the Adult Franchise for Progress (AFP) group, an alliance of Parsi media representatives and like minded individuals, has arranged with the Zoroastrian Cooperative Bank Ltd to make voter forms "available from 10 branches in Bombay and also at the offices of the Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly” in the Fort area, notes a write-up in the journal.

The Parsi Resource Group (PRG) led by developer Jimmy Mistry has also been active in enrolling voters with Mistry stating he will contest the elections. Mistry is the first heavyweight contender in the fray and his chances of winning a seat appear high. With the PRG in the fray, WAPIZ (The World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) will face a second major challenge, the first being from the Alert Zoroastrians Association (AZA). PRG and AZA’s thinking is more alike with both having ties with Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Dinshaw Tamboly. Tamboly has not publicly committed whether he will contest for elections or not but he is expected to support like-minded people.

Meanwhile AFP legal expert, solicitor Berjis Desai has stated in a press release that as the WAPIZ appeal in the Bombay High Court had been "merely admitted and no stay granted… (the appeal) has no practical significance.” Desai was also sanguine that WAPIZ would not appeal against Bombay High Court Justice A. M. Khanwilkar’s historic judgment favoring adult franchise as "they themselves have now decided to be a part of the present electoral process.”

Grandiose plans

With no Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India meeting held since September 2006 a letter appeared in the WAPIZ Page of the Afternoon Despatch and Courier of March 29, 2007 by the Federation’s executive secretary and BPP senior executive (welfare) Cawas S. Panthaki that "As has been suggested by Mr Areez Khambatta, VP West Zone (B), the Federation will be embarking on a Poverty Amelioration Scheme (PAS) whereby financial assistance will be extended to the poor and needy Zoroastrians living in and around anjumans that do not have the means/ability/funds to do the same, on their own.”

The letter addressed to the heads of various punchayets and anjumans of India requested them to inform the Federation about "needy individuals/Zoroastrian families living in and around your anjuman…It is envisaged that in time, the monies realized from defunct and dwindling anjuman properties will enable the Federation to expand the extent and scale of the scheme, with a view to completely eradicate poverty among our poor humdins, living in far-flung areas and even rehabilitate them.”

The WAPIZ Page credited the "iron-willed perseverance, and a bombardment of hard-hitting letters by Khambatta to the Federation leaders, reminding them of their responsibility to the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians of India…

"Steering the Federation leadership away from the cosmopolitan world body, and other similar self-defeating goals, Khambatta paves the way for a stronger Federation, with a worthy vision. With defunct anjuman properties all over India, valued in excess of Rs 500 crores, Khambatta strongly feels that the vast funds tied up in these properties should immediately be realized and used to (1) completely eradicate poverty in the community and (2) maintain agiaries all over India, which lack funds. The Federa­tion’s foremost priority now should be to safeguard these properties, and not leave them open to encroachment by land grabbers from within and outside the community.”

This laudable though improbable suggestion (the amount raised by the Federation from the defunct anjuman properties would probably be under Rs 50 lakhs, not all of it in hand) raised eyebrows amongst Federation members who were not informed or consulted about the move.

"We congratulate the management of the Federation for suggesting such a scheme, although we are a little more than disturbed that a scheme has been announced without it being discussed by the executive committee. These are undesirable trends,” noted the Calcutta Zoroastrian Community’s Religious and Charity Fund trustee Bahadur S. Postwalla.

So how did the proposal get through? WAPIZ reportedly pressured their ally BPP trustee Dinshaw Mehta who is also joint honorary secretary of the Federation to have the letter issued without consulting all the other office bearers and members of the executive council and the general body.

In an attempt to mollify Postwalla, Panthaki replied, "We are still at the preliminary stage of collecting and collating the information from different anjumans, and certainly the matter would be placed before the executive committee/Federation, before taking a final decision in the matter. In the meantime, the BPP will be assisting needy families from its funds till a final decision is taken by the Executive Committee/Federation, including the issues raised by you.”