Iranian intervention

A letter written by Kourosh Niknam, Iran’s only Zoroastrian member of parliament, and endorsed by 30 anjumans from that country, has castigated the Parsis of India and Pakistan for clinging to the outmoded system of dakhmena­shini. The protest seems to have been triggered off by photographs of the insides of the dakhma, possibly the same ones circulated by crusader and former qwaali singer Dhun Baria. Addressed to the president and members of the World Zoroastrian Organi­sation (WZO), with copies sent to the Bombay Parsi Puncha­yet (BPP), Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman, Bombay, Hamazor in Pakistan and Parsiana, the letter (reproduced here unedited) states:

"Dear Behdins,

"Whereas the prime aim and purpose for creation of WZO is preservation of Zoroastranism and propagation of Zoroastrian religion in its true spirit as well as to intervene and prevent acts and processes contrasting Asho Zarthush­tra’s teachings wherever and whenever committed by Zoroastrians.

"You are well aware that since long Zoroastrians worldwide have been burying their deads. But the practice of consigning the dead bodies to Dokhma which is not at all practicle in modern world is persistent in India and Pakistan. Because of voltures long gone the bodies are not consumed, lay untouched for periods, are decomposed, pollute the environment and create health hazards. These are evident in Dokhmas in Bombay, violating the principle of purity of Zoroastranism.

"We, Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman and religious organisations throughout Iran and the Zoroastrian representative in the Iranian parliament were shocked to see the horor of Dokhmas in Bombay exhibited on films and pictures via websites. This is a disgrace to the sacred culture of Zoroastranism and humiliates the nature of our religions reality. We Zoroastrians in Iran deem it our paramount duty to draw the attention of WZO to this grisly situation in Bombay Dokhma which is ruinous to the Zoroastrian prestige and threaten the survival of Zoroastranism. We request WZO to intervene and urge the Zoroastrians in India and Pakistan to put an end to this outmoded practice of consigning the dead bodies to Dokhmas due to irreparable factors and find a suitable way acceptable by modern world.

"Your urgent and constructive approach to this grisly situation of Dokh­mas in Bombay will be much appreciated.

"We shall be happy to hear from you on this matter,

"Best regards, Kourosh Niknam”

"On behalf of Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman and religious organizations signed and named in the list attached.

"Letter to WZO confirmed and signed by: Zoroastrian Anjuman of Taft and Tavabe, Tehran, Mr F. Pour Rustomi, president; Zoroastrian Women Organization, Tehran, Mrs M. Shahzadi, member; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Karaj, Mr R. Azarkyvan, president; Zoroastrian Students Association, Tehran, Mr R. Bamasi, president; Yaneshvaran Mon-treh Anjuman, Yazd, Mrs J. Shahriari, president; Zoroastrian Youth Association, Tehran, Dr P. Ahurai, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Maria­mabad, Yazd, Mr H. Mali, treasurer; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Ghasemabad, Yazd, Mr K. Mavandadi, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Ahvaz, Mr M. Pouladi, member; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Yazd, Mr S. Firouzfard, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Kerman, Mr B. Rustomi, vice president; Tehran Zoroastrian Anjuman, Mr A. Daneshmand, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Shiraz, Mr A. Sohrabi, president; Anjuman Mobedan, Tehran, Dr A. Khorshidian, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Taft and Tavabe, Yazd, Mr A. Cama, president; Zoroastrian Anju­man of Allahbad,Yazd, Mr S. Bastani, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Ahrestan, Yazd, Mr D. Behmardi, president; Zoroastrian Youth Association of Yazd, Mr H. Namiranian, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Sharifabad, Tehran, Dr K. Dabestani, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Nosratabad, Yazd, Mr J. Manouchehri, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Esfahan, Mr K. Mavandadi, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Khoramshah, Yazd, Mr A. Babaki, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Kochebiok,Yazd, Mr K. Khodaparast, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Sharifabad, Yazd, Mr G. Belivani, president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Rahma­tabad,Yazd, Mr S Khosraviani, member; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Kasnavia, Yazd, Mrs M. Rustomi, president; Zoroastrian Women Commission, Yazd, Mrs S. Bakhtiari, vice president; Zoroastrian Anjuman of Mybod, Yazd, Mrs M. Kiyanian, member; Mr K. Kiyani, author and former president of Shiraz Anjuman.”

Reacting to this, the BPP has accused foreign groups of interfering in the religious affairs of their Indian counterparts, as reported in Mumbai Mirror of July 3, 2007. The ancient funeral traditions will continue in India as long as most Zoroastrians support the system, the BPP has stated. Trustee Dinshaw Tamboly says that the community in India is a ‘democracy’ where the will of the people prevails.

The orthodox World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) in the WAPIZ Page of the Afternoon Despatch and Courier dated July 12, 2007, has taken umbrage that "Niknam has the gall to advise the Parsi community to cease using the religiously injuncted and correct system of dakhmenashini” even though "no ‘higher rituals’ of any form have been performed in Iran for the last 50 years as is done regularly in India. They have no trained priests to perform any of these inner rituals… Moreover, this system of disposal was abandoned in Iran not due to the paucity of vultures as is wrongly portrayed by him, but because of a powerful group of influential reformists in Tehran, who bullied their counterparts in Yazd and the surrounding areas… to abandon the system in 1973-74. The community in India must realize that Niknam’s irreligious sentiments are part of a bigger plot, conceived by a coterie of radical reformists… who are doing their utmost to break down the customs and traditions of the community… We shall continue to uphold the system of dakhmena-shini which Niknam and his predecessors abandoned, living within a Muslim milieu. Our advice to Niknam is that he should try and do ‘good’ as his name (Niknam) suggests, instead of meddling in the religious affairs of a sovereign nation and its people who are committed to upholding their religious traditions.”

Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly wrote to WZO asking for its views on Niknam’s letter and published, in its issue of July 15, 2007, the reply it received from the organization’s president, Darayus S. Motivala. "We have been following the views expressed on this subject from various people… We regard this to be an issue for the Zoroastrians of Mumbai and the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. No doubt, other cities in India and Pakistan, which have a Doongerwadi would have the same problem. In the final analysis, the mode of disposal of one’s body is very much a matter of personal choice,” was Motivala’s measured response.