Ahmedabad votes

The elections for the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat (APP) were scheduled to be held on June 3, 2007 at the Dhunjisha Eduljee Anklesaria Hall. Twenty-four candidates in all are standing; eight candidates are in the fray for the five trusteeship seats, and 14 for the eight managing committee seats; two joint honorary secretaries were elected unopposed. The last date for filing nominations and withdrawals was May 30, 2007. APP president Areez Khambatta did not stand for reelection.

When asked what the issues were in the election, former APP trustee Porus Karanjawalla replied, "Issueless… throw them (the incumbents) out” is the main plank.

The candidates in the fray for trusteeship are Kersi Shethna, Soli Unwala, Behram Anklesaria, Porus Karanja­walla, Aspi Bharucha, Navroze Kanga, Farokh Kavina and Jehanbux Doctor. Those standing for the managing committee are Kersi Daruwala, Pervez Wadia, Minoo Gandhi, Jimmy Jokhi, Viraf Fanibunda, Arseesh Commissariat, Homiyar Dotiwala, Cyrus Dastur, Armaity Davar, Firdaus Kapadia, Hoshang Karanjia, Sarosh Karkaria, Rusi Rao and Khushroo Anklesaria (whose application may be in question, notes Karanjawalla). The two unopposed joint honorary secretaries Firoze Davar and Cawas Sethna were declared elected.

"Rich WAPIZ blood”

In Bombay, the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) has given the public a taste of what its election campaigning will be like for the October 2007 Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trusteeship elections.

In a press release issued on the occasion of the orthodox group’s second anniversary, the trustees allege: "It is our firm conviction that all this turmoil in the community is caused because the BPP leadership is very weak. BPP is the apex body of the Parsis. And yet we have trustees who do not truly represent the community. All the present trustees have been elected by an illegal defunct Anjuman electoral college and have been voted in with some times as few as 400 individuals. We have trustees who always compromise. We have trustees sitting in the BPP boardroom who are working against the very interests of the Parsis.

"For example, we have two BPP trustees who want to give away the bunglis in Doongerwadi for use by those who opt for cremation. This is an absolute breach of trust! Cremation and burial are antithetical to the Zoroastrian religion. Moreover trustees are mandated to act as per the will of the settlors. Who are they to decide what they want? Instead of trying to strengthen the dakhmenashini system they are doing everything to weaken it! They have no right to continue as BPP trustees. WAPIZ is here to ensure that only Parsis worship in fire temples… that Doon­gerwadi be used only for dakhme­nashini… that only Parsis reside in Parsi colonies... that our high priests are respected... that our time-tested customs and traditions are preserved and our religious institutions are protected.”

A report on the WAPIZ second anniversary bash on May 26, 2007 at the Royal Western India Turf Club grounds in the Afternoon Despatch and Courier of May 29 quotes WAPIZ founder trustee Yazdi Desai as saying, "The Bombay Parsi Punchayet has become weak and needs to be infused with rich WAPIZ blood.”

WAPIZ leader Khojeste Mistree has not publicly announced his candidature and is reportedly undecided on the issue. His wife Firoza and BPP candidate Desai’s wife Anahita will not stand for office, says Anahita. Whether WAPIZ will offer a full slate of seven or less is also undecided but a list of candidates is expected to be made public in a month’s time.

In the meanwhile property developer, designer and community activist Jimmy Mistry is preparing his election manifesto which he intends making public around mid-June. He will stand as an independent and will not offer a slate of candidates, he said in an interview at his Sleater Road office on May 28, 2007.

While he favors the candidature of "dear friends” and fellow Dadar residents, Arnavaz Mistry and Rustom Tirandaz, he says he will "remain completely neutral.” Arnavaz Mistry is a social worker and Tirandaz is a former Bombay municipal corporator and erstwhile BPP trustee.

Jimmy Mistry: independent stand

Referring to the opposition to "builders” standing as BPP trusteeship candidates, Mistry states the criteria for election should be the record of service rendered to the community by the contestants. The question any candidate must answer is "How many days of community service have you done in the last few years?”

He refers to the various community programs he has initiated and supported to justify his bona fides as a candidate: the mobed assistance scheme whereby around 1,000 priests are covered by a cashless mediclaim scheme that covers pre-existing diseases, a subsidy of Rs 2,000 a month to 205 mobeds over the age of 65, and so on. Mistry says he has pledged one crore rupees (of which around 80 lakhs is already spent) to his Parsi Resource Group activities, nearly all of it coming from his own resources. What we want in trustees are "people capable of executing” projects, a "hands-on” individual, he reiterates.

He notes there are around 300 active trusts in the Bombay community and believes they too, like the BPP, should be accountable to the community. "Ultimately it is all community money,” he observes.

"Not even one square inch of community immovable property should ever, ever be sold off or used for any non-Parsi causes,” he avers. He referred to the Parsi Lying-in Hospital and the M. F. Cama Athornan Madressa properties, both prime assets that need to be developed for community purposes.

"As a builder I understand redevelopment better than any outsider,” he points out. Regarding the housing policy of the BPP, Mistry suggests a public meeting be called at Rustom Baug or any other place where 5,000 to 10,000 Parsis can gather and discuss the issue. "If I don’t know the (present) housing policy how will anyone else understand it?” he questions.

While he believes trusts must generate revenue, he is emphatic that a trust "cannot be run like a business. Religious institutions will always have to be dependent on charity.”

On the liberal-orthodox divide in the community Mistry asserts he is in neither camp. And his answer to the present controversy over the disposal of the dead? "I’m interested in the living rather than the dead.”

Indelible ink

The polling dates and centers for the BPP trusteeship elections are still to be finalized. The Adult Franchise for Progress (AFP) had proposed two days, October 6 and 7, 2007 with centers at Rustom Baug at Byculla on the first day and Panthaki Baug in Andheri for the second. But quite clearly more dates and centers will be required if maximum voter participation is to occur.

Indelible ink will be used for the first time to lessen the possibility of an individual fraudulently voting twice. Identification cards with photos affixed are being issued to those registering to vote for the first time. Those who have registered earlier can use their original certificates or ask for duplicates if required. The AFP however cautions that duplicate certificates will not be issued in the last three days before the elections.

"About 8,000 uncollected original certificates of registration are lying in (the) BPP cupboards,” notes a write up prepared by AFP to assist volunteers in registering voters. "It must be our endeavor to register all Parsis (and get them) involved… for the betterment of our community.”

"In the coming months, last ditch attempts may still be made to file appeals in the courts to delay the October elections,” warns The Bombay Sama­char columnist Berjis Desai in his "Parsi Tari Arsi” column dated May 27, 2007. "The media is ready to lay bare the facts before the electorate...these persons have no political future and no place to rest except in the dustbin of history.”