“Don’t go for a hung parliament”

"Hitherto 700 to 800 persons (members of the now defunct Anjuman Committee which elected trustees) decided the fate of the community. This time 20,000- 22,000 persons are expected to vote. AFP (Adult Franchise for Progress) is the group that has empowered you, enfranchised you,” trusteeship candidate and philanthropy management expert Noshir Dadrawala told the audience at the Muncherji Khareghat Hall of Bombay’s Khareghat Colony on September 21.

It was the first in a series of meets between candidates and voters in the area organized and hosted by Paeterasp Patel on behalf of the Khareghat Colony and Aderbad Group. The largely peaceful and orderly event saw three hecklers trying to disrupt proceedings, one about another trust with which one of the AFP panel — Bombay Samachar chairman and managing director (CMD) Muncherji Cama — is connected, the second about alleged goings-on at the Godrej Baug’s Eco Park and a third, a young girl insisted on being heard but seemed to reject Dadrawala’s invitation to come on stage and have her say!

Quoting a critic who had punned on the word gentleman saying, "Tamaaraa ma gentle ghanu chhè (You are too gentle). Where is the man in you?” Dadrawala took a swipe at the WAPIZ (World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) group noting, "WAPIZ has historically opposed universal adult franchise.” Alluding to this orthodox group’s perennial slogan "Religion in danger,” Dadrawala questioned the gathering, "Is religion in danger?” adding, "Religion is a convenient tool in political hands. The true meaning of religion is the path that unites you to God. That path is of love, of understanding. Hatred is the path leading away from God…The trustees’ job is to look after the properties entrusted by the settlors. What authority do Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustees have to pass religious fatwas (dictats)? (They) are incompetent to go into religious issues. The issue here is good management of the community’s funds and properties — issues beyond religion.”

"Though I readily agreed (to contest for BPP trusteeship), I’m not hungry to be elected,” declared Nadir Modi. President of the Athornan Mandal, the governing body of mobeds, Modi is said to spend his Sundays providing legal support to Parsi charity trusts where he is on the board of trustees. "I’d be very careful because hungry people do things they shouldn’t do,” the eminent lawyer counseled the voters. He said his intention had been to "show that democracy can work for the benefit of the community, conduct the elections in such a way that it’s an example to other communities,” but added that this hope was receding. "More and more you have to be careful how you use your vote.”

Voicing a thought in the mind of the voters, Modi alluded to the AFP common minimum program listed via an audiovisual at the start of the evening’s program: "Will they be able to do all this?” Historically trusteeship candidates have promised much, delivered little because "different trustees were pulling in different directions. (They are) good people but they made us hang our heads. That’s not how it should work.”

Reassuring the audience that the slate of professionals fielded by the AFP would not have volunteered "if we did not have time (for community work),” Modi emphasized a common human characteristic, "We always find time when we want to do something.”

Allaying fears of "dharam dhaasti maa chhè (religion is in danger) propagated by hungry people,” Modi assured the gathering, "No Parsi Punchayet trustee can do anything to harm the religion. Faith lasts for ever. Our community has done so much in part because of principled leadership which has come to us through our religion.”

In a rare exhibition of outspokenness India’s ace income tax lawyer Sohrab (Soli) Dastur, who had earlier been a part of the AFP panel but had subsequently withdrawn because of his wife’s serious illness, had attended the AFP organized meet at Allbless Baug the previous evening and taken the WAPIZ opposition head on. The audience at Khareghat Colony had an opportunity to view the video clip and hear what the otherwise reticent Dastur had to say:

"Religious people are politicking. I am not against the high priests (having their say). They can come out in favor of certain candidates in their personal capacity, but not as high priests.” Referring to the WAPIZ appeal against Parsis outside Bombay voting for BPP trusteeship elections, Dastur pointed out that Parsis anywhere in India who have registered have always been permitted to vote in the BPP elec­tions. "Bombay people represent Belgaum (WAPIZ candidate Khojeste Mistree has represented Bel­gaum at the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India meetings and voted on its behalf to stall the Federation’s proceedings) but don’t want Belgaum Parsis to vote for the BPP elections. This is a case of double standards…”

Referring to the cremation of Mistree’s parents Dastur alleged that the four-day obsequial prayers had been conducted and attended by the son despite his public stand against the practice (Mistree denies having attended the ceremonies in USA). "Is it OK (for his family) but not for others? Jau double standards hoi tau honest nahi kévai (people with double standards cannot be considered honest).”

AFP founder Berjis Desai

Acknowledging Mistree’s earlier career as public speaker reviving the community’s interest in its religion, Dastur noted, "He had urged audiences he wanted space and promised to vacate if required.” The subsequent adversarial approach of Mistree and his Zoroastrian Studies to the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute which had provided the space he had asked for, was not the stuff of moral behavior, alleged Dastur. "If something is morally wrong you shouldn’t do it!” he emphasized.

In the WAPIZ Page in The Free Press Journal the AFP panel had been described as altu-faltu (worthless). The same article had noted that for an appointment with Das­tur in his professional capacity one needed to wait for a month. Dastur lau­ghed at the contradiction, adding, "éj loko maari pas appointment vagar avéla chhè (These same people have come to me professionally, without an appointment) — many times!”

Referring to the receptions and dinners WAPIZ is said to be hosting, Dastur noted, "In national elections you have to account for whatever money you spend for the election…There is always the temptation to recover the money later.”

Since the AFP panel has been repeatedly labeled "reformist,” Dastur said he looked up the meaning of the word "reform” in the Oxford Dictionary because people with an Oxford accent would pay more heed to it. Among the meanings given are "to renew, restore, reestablish; to convert, bring back or restore (a thing or person) to the original; to convert into another and better form; to free from previous faults or imperfections…” "Yes, I am a reformist! It is not a word of abuse…Religion is not only dakhmena­shini. It is also about honesty, truth.” Recalling what Swami Vivekananda had said, "I reject any religious doctrine that does not believe in reason and is against morality,” Dastur said, "Sati was once considered a matter of religion…Bomb blasts have been justified on religious grounds. Understand what is true religion.”

Since AFP foun­­der solicitor Berjis Desai is castigated for "remote control” of his team, Dastur scof­fed, "Berjis gave me five minutes. I’ve already taken 10-15. But where is WAPIZ’s money coming from? From Ahme­dabad? Who can control? The one who gives money...?”

Urging voters not to go on holiday in October — the traditional vacation month — Dastur reminded them, "In cricket too there are good players, but if they don’t play as a team, they don’t win!”

AFP candidates (clockwise from top left): Nadir Modi, Dr Ketayun Dinshaw, Muncherji Cama, Maneck Engineer, Noshir Dadrawala and Byram Jeejeebhoy

Shifting the focus to the current scenario of auctioning flats and charging security deposits where amounts have scaled to heights beyond one crore rupees, Desai noted scornfully, "Then you say you have increased the BPP corpus!...Are these people (those who have bought the flats) the people Jerbai Wadia had in mind?” Candidate Byram Jeejeebhoy "will restore compassionate property management with a touch of class,” averred Desai, adding, "There are 50 crores waiting in Hong Kong for an old age home. But they are not for the present trustees!”

Jeejeebhoy said it was "depressing that there were not that many young faces here, depressing that young people are not taking too much interest. If we can make them stand on their own feet, they won’t have to fight for Punchayet flats. We have a scheme to be put into practice very soon. There are many opportunities even now.” He gave a "solemn promise” that there will be no crematorium at Doongerwadi, that they will maintain the community perspective even though it takes over one crore rupees per annum to look after Doonger­wadi.

Sitting trustee and AFP candidate Maneck Engineer responded to some of WAPIZ’s "character assassination,” noting that he had joined the committee for Electoral Rights (CER) in 1980 "with one thought of bringing about universal adult franchise for Parsis.” He declared himself a part of AZA (Alert Zoroastrians Association) noting, "I always believe in fighting for the right. I am proud of it. I have dissented (from BPP board decisions) on many occasions.” He is said to have dissented from the BPP’s acceptance of the pugree system which allows a tenant to induct another so long as he shares 40 percent of the gratuity with the trust. It is this that has led to the auctioning of flats referred to earlier. Engineer says he has "withdrawn the power of attorney given to the staff” and is aiming at a "small budget of two to three crores every year to repair old buildings.”

Tata Memorial Hospital director Dr Ketayun Dinshaw offered her professional expertise together with a pragmatic, dispassionate approach to help the community out of the "trough” it has got into since the past few years. Banker Keki Mistry was said to be recovering from a recent fistula operation but Desai promised, "We will bring him to your doorstep.”

"There is no need for Alice in Wonderland. Just watch the BPP goings-on,” said Cama painting a verbal caricature of a BPP trustee meeting he had attended some years ago. With "zero tolerance for the present policy on housing” as per Desai, Cama depicted how genuine cases are sidelined: "When a name reaches the top of the housing list, suddenly a lot of anonymous letters appear.” Another tack is to show a flat no one would accept, followed by the suggestion that the applicant consider opting for the paid category system. Thereafter the applicant is left to languish. "That is how genuine applicants are sidelined and cronyism flourishes.” Cama promised to work according to "the wishes of the settlor and one’s own morality.” He reiterated what he had mentioned about the Zarthostiona Rehthan Fund at earlier meets. As for Doonger­wadi, "It is not valuable land; it is priceless land!” And to promote religious education he suggested that Parsi children be advised to take up Avesta-Pahlavi instead of the second subject of their choice which totals with Marathi at the SSC board exams. "Thereby we’d get a better lot of Parsi Irani scholars… What is real religious scholarship? In the old days scholars studied for their own development. Today ‘religious scholars’ teach not for the love of teaching but as a business.”

Just before Cama spoke, a video clip of Mistree was screened wherein he suggested that Prophet Zarathushtra’s knowledge of the earth could not have covered more than 500 square miles. He is unlikely to have known of distant regions like the Americas or Australia, said Mistree.

"Has any one seen the trust deed of the Athravan Educational Trust (AET)?” asked Cama referring to the trust floated by Mistree, lawyer Homi Ranina, Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal and others in the 1980s which had been heavily castigated by high priests Dasturs (Dr) Hormuzdiar Mirza and (Dr) Kaikhusroo JamaspAsa. The legal entity, supposedly for the benefit of mobeds, is a cosmopolitan trust where Tajiks and Brazilians could also be beneficiaries, averred Cama.

An AFP poster at Khareghat Colony

Question time

What if diverse groups are elected? Cama said he would work towards cohesiveness "but on certain things there will be no compromise. I will be homicidal, not suicidal!”

What happens to corpses in the rainy season? They dehydrate only in the dry season, acknowledged Engineer.

What about the land within the outer wall of Doongerwadi? Is it a play ground for the Godrej Baug Residents Welfare Association? Engineer exlained that the cemetery grounds remain intact. The playground is permitted in the outer region but the questioner denounced the dancing, dandia-raas and smoking that have taken place in the Eco Park within 100 meters of Doongerwadi. For a short time the situation tended to become rowdy as general brouhaha prevailed — and subsided as quickly as it had begun.

To a voter concerned about counterfeit votes Jeejeebhoy responded that the BPP had undertaken the pruning of duplicate certificates on a war footing.

Asked what measures she would take to improve fellow feeling in the community Dinshaw replied with a statement made by J. R. D. Tata in the context of the nation: "I want my people to be happy.” "It will not come from confrontation,” she amplified, adding, "We are here to talk to you…It can only be done by cooperation.” She was also asked her opinion on mixed marriages. "It’s a very personal issue. There is nothing one can do except counsel (the Zoroastrian boy or girl),” she noted, adding a word of caution, "Be supportive; don’t lose them.”

When a lady from the audience sought religious literature suitable for reading to children under five, Dadrawala promised to provide it. But when he was asked about how he would stop Parsis from begging, he said he would do whatever was required for physically and mentally challenged people but did not know "what to do about lazy people” and asked for suggestions. "The problems are many, the solutions few. The panel wants to involve the community. We need a participatory approach. It’s not a matter of us and you; it’s we,” who are involved, he noted. Would the panel declare their assets? "You can see my income tax returns. I own a two wheeler,” said Dadrawala, proclaiming himself satisfied with "the simple things in life. I am a happy man.”

If the board is divided between WAPIZ and AFP, how will you function? "Your wisdom is in question here. The fate of the community is in your hands. Don’t go for a hung parliament. Go for candidates who are in harmony,” recommended Dadrawala, amplifying later, "By and large we will work unitedly but where that is not possible we will put the issue to vote and the majority opinion will prevail.”

To the question of funerary prayers at Doongerwadi for those opting for cremation Dadrawala’s initial response was that the matter was in court. The trustees will do as the court dictates. But when the voter demanded to know Dadrawala’s personal opinion on the issue Dadrawala referred to a suggestion he had made a couple of years ago that an area in Ambawadi be selected for a separate facility for the purpose. "By now it would have put the controversy to rest, but it was opposed tooth and nail by WAPIZ.”

When a lady pleaded, "Don’t shun, don’t shut up the youth. They won’t come,” Dadrawala said they planned to have a youth committee in the Punchayet. Dinshaw supported him: "All of us want young people to attend our meetings. We will reach out to young people.” She was also confronted with the rumor that she would be involved with the setting up of the Tata Cancer Hospital in Calcutta. She admitted she had been involved with the project for the last four yeas but denied any commitment to go to Calcutta. "I will be faithful to the commitment to the Trust,” she noted.

A member of the audience urged Cama to see what happens at his Cama Building at night. The man alleged that letters to Cama are not answered. Cama clarified that the issue in question concerned one of the three Cama Buildings which are a part of the Zarthostiona Rehthan Fund’s 40 buildings. On the basis of their architect’s opinion on priority repair they are addressing one building at a time. "The damage is because of unauthorized construction of lofts. I can understand your frustration because before I got in they (the residents) were doing whatever they wanted,” averred Cama and asked, "Why haven’t you written to the Trust? There is not a single letter...” The heckler tended to become more aggressive until Modi put an end to the matter by declaring, "This is not the forum for your grievances. Today’s meet has nothing to do with other trusts.”

Someone else similarly tried to raise the bogey of the FDU (Foundation for Development of Udvada), asking what the panel proposed to do about it. He was cut short with "Nothing. It has nothing to do with the BPP.” A young woman started to shout something in the midst of all this, leading to some arguments between the people in the immediate neighborhood. Modi took a disciplina­rian’s approach, which failed. So Dadrawala stepped off the podium, spoke to her and returned to the stage. He later told Parsiana that the girl claimed she wanted a say but when he invited her to come to the stage and state her case, she refused to do so.

Someone wanted Modi to define the terms "Parsi” and "Zoroastrian.” To do so he went into a synopsis of the Davar-Beaman judgment of the Parsi Punchayet Case where Davar had separated the religion, Zoroastrianism, from the race, Parsi, and decreed that only the children of both Parsi parents or of a Parsi father with a non-Parsi mother could be considered Parsis. "The category of the children of Parsi women married to non-Parsi men did not exist at that time.”