Unjustified attack

I am disillusioned by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) elections. I am not a member of any Parsi organization or group, therefore to claim that I speak or act on their behalf is entirely baseless. My involvement in these elections is that of a concerned community member and nothing more.

I received an invitation to attend the AFP (Adult Franchise for Progress) meeting at Dadar’s Palamkote Hall on September 3, 2008. I thought I’d be fair and give each candidate a patient hearing so that I could choose the right people for the BPP trusteeship. I attended the AFP meeting with that sole intention.

I am appalled at the way I was treated at the meeting as well as by the malicious attack that followed on me and my family in some sections of the Parsi Press.

Yes, I am Tannaz Parakh’s sister. Does that disqualify me, and all those related to her, from asking questions or airing our grievances? We do not have the herd mentality. We are thinking individuals. My plea to the AFP panel was simple: do not manipulate the community by showcasing the plight of the poor Parsis. Would I then allow anyone to manipulate me?

The only conclusion I have reached is: Ask the AFP a question and they will show you the door. That they will stoop low enough to use the Parsi Press to malign a concerned voter, as they did in my case, was a rude shock.

We did not disrupt the meeting. We asked the questions in their question/answer hour and if chaos followed it was because they had no answers.

ZARINA H. DEVITRE

hpdevitre@mtnl.net.in

A misleading and slanderous article was written by Team Jame in the issue of Jam-e-Jamshed dated September 7, 2008 titled "A feeble family attempt to disrupt AFP’s meeting.” The article referred to our family in a derogatory manner, amongst other dramatic and malicious statements. We, as a family, have kept a dignified silence all this time, but I am constrained to write this letter of clarification.

I was not present at the meeting in question, but I have seen the three CDs of the AFP meeting in question which Berjis Desai, the AFP coordinator was kind enough to give me. I watched the entire program of three hours and saw absolutely no disruption of the meeting, as alleged.

Questions, comments and points of view were expressed by many in the audience when the floor was thrown open. My cousin Zarina Devitre raised her query and one can see Kersi Randeria of the Alert Zoroastrians Asociation (AZA), not an AFP panel member, answering her. If her question was uncomfortable for the AFP panel, they could have handled it with dignity, poise and self-respect. Instead, my cousins were heckled and thrown out by Randeria and others in an undignified manner and the doors of the hall closed on them.

Our family has been maligned and I wish to clear this by offering copies of the CDs I have to anyone who wishes to view them, which will prove beyond doubt that Jame’s attack is completely unfounded. Any person interested in the CDs should please contact me by e-mail.

JENAI BURJOR BANAJI

jenaib@hotmail.com

I am quite disillusioned by the level of campaigning carried out for the current elections to the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. Totally false and uncalled for personal and vindictive attacks by the Press on supporters of other parties (including my family members) reflect very poorly on our community. I would not like my name to be associated with any particular party or group or be listed as a supporter for any candidates on the AFP panel.

Dr DARIUS F. SOONAWALLA

I am most upset at the type of campaigning being done for the current elections and particularly incensed at the totally false personal and vindictive attacks in the Press on close members of my family and supporters of other parties. Please do not use my name as a supporter for any candidate on the AFP panel.

Dr PHIROZE F. SOONAWALLA

phirozes@mtnl.com