Ridiculous restrictions

I feel conversion must have stopped because of our promise to Jadi Rana that we would not convert his subjects or allow them to enter our fire temples. I do not know whether or not it was disallowed in Zoroastrianism. However, I do not favor conversion for I would not like a paan-chewing, spitting, tobacco-chewing or unbathed stinking person or anyone who is dirty, uncouth or uncivilized, sitting next to me in an agiary or atash behram or at the Doongerwadi. Parsis are accepted everywhere because we are clean and more cultured and refined than others on account of our good upbringing.

In their heart of hearts, everyone is racist. It is hypocritical to claim that we are not. But there are certain aspects which the community should have considered, such as selective conversion — allowing the offspring of Zoroastrians to become Zoroastrians. Today we accept the children of Zoroastrian fathers but we debar those of Zoroastrian mothers. Some orthodox people go to the extent of terming legal mixed marriages as adultery and referring to the legal children of such unions as bastards.

Often, Zoroastrian women who have legally married outside are not allowed entry in our fire temples or Doongerwadi bunglis because the orthodox think that they have committed adultery and hence are impure! The underlying rule for these people is that if a Zoroastrian woman has sex with a non-Zoroastrian, the upholders of the religion cannot do anything about it; but if she legally marries the man she loves, she has committed adultery, has become impure and the orthodox have the right (dadagiri) to stop her.

A few years back, our learned vada dasturs went to the extent of disallowing the navjotes of the children of Zoroastrian fathers and non-Parsi mothers as well. They even ousted a few priests who had performed such navjotes. When threatened with court cases and dire consequences, they relented.

The high priests also privately ousted mobeds who performed the last rites of those Zoroastrians who had opted for cremation. The ousted priests naturally lost their only means of livelihood. In order to survive they started performing the navjotes of children of Zoroastrian mothers and the funeral ceremonies of those who opted for cremation. They formed their own group, went abroad and converted people to Zoroastrianism by performing mass navjotes. This movement has gained such momentum that it cannot be halted.

We don’t issue certificates to children who have had their navjotes performed. We don’t even have an institution that can do this. So, if a person wears the sudreh and kusti and recites our prayers, can one stop him/her? All that one can do is to prevent them from entering our fire temples. If the person is reasonably fair and insists that he/she is a Zoroastrian by showing the sudreh and kusti and creates a scene, people will ultimately give in. Many Zoroastrians living in distant states do not know Gujarati. They speak English or Hindi at home. Does this mean they cease to be Zoroastrians? Many Zoroastrians adopt names that sound Hindu, Muslim or British. Do we have identity cards to prove that we are Zoroastrians while entering our temples?

If our high priests had welcomed the children of Zoroastrian fathers as well as Zoroastrian mothers who had married outside the community into our religion, if they had allowed priests to perform funeral ceremonies for those who had opted for cremation, if they had not banned or ousted their fellow priests unnecessarily, this nonsense would not have taken place. Since the persons most responsible for this ugly scenario are our high priests themselves, they themselves should put the religion back in order.

The need of the hour is to get all the ousted priests together, have a cordial meeting with them and take them back into the mainstream with a request not to convert outsiders to our religion. We should do away with our ridiculous restrictions on petty matters. What is needed is compromise as an amicable solution is better than a futile fight.

RUSTOM A. HAVEWALLA

rahavewalla@mtnl.net.in