Editorial Viewpoint
The sum total
There is a stark contrast between the election meetings of the two major candidates contesting the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trusteeship election this April.
The campaign rally of former BPP trustee Maneck Engineer held at Tardeo was a sober, intellectual affair with less rhetoric and more content. The speakers were fewer, unemotional, stating their man’s strengths and experiences.
Armaity Tirandaz’s meet, also at Tardeo, was a more lively, interactive and charged event with allegations being tossed left, right and center against her main opponent, Engineer. Here the candidate herself spoke briefly while her supporters and well-wishers sang her praises and damned her opponent.
“How many houses has Maneck Engineer built during his six years in office?” asked Anahita Desai, wife of sitting trustee Yazdi and an emerging firebrand speaker. “Zero,” was her reply.
Why a single trustee, and that too a civil engineer, should be solely held responsible for the failure of constructing BPP housing is a puzzle. Creating new homes is the joint responsibility of all the seven trustees and requires harmony between the persons concerned, financial planning, land, government sanctions and of course, public goodwill.
If the trustees failed to construct housing during the six-year period Engineer was in office, it was a collective failure. That the previous seven trustees (which later became six with the death of Silloo Kavarana) did not see eye to eye on many issues is well-known. Four of them even tendered their resignations citing their inability to work with their colleague Dinshaw Mehta, the present chairman of the august body. Their skirmishes featured prominently in the Parsi and national Press and spilt into the courts of law.
But out of the turmoil and frustration, the scheme for universal adult franchise (UAF) for electing trustees emerged. The six trustees will always have this reform to their credit though ironically most of them disapprove of the UAF concept for a trust. (A democracy may not assure the best persons are elected but it does usually ensure that the persons elected are held accountable.)
But what legacy will the new trustees leave behind? Barely six months into office and their differences are being published in the newspapers, aired on television and argued in court.
Both in the Charity Commissioner’s office and the Bombay High Court, sitting trustee Noshir Dadrawala has publicly and legally separated himself from the actions and legal stance of his six, and now five colleagues, Rustom Tirandaz having died untimely while in office. Leave aside constructing any new housing, the new board whose leadership received a thumping mandate has been unable to allocate a single flat. Buildings that were built years ago are lying unused, unmaintained and now are in need of repair. Any new development plans are likely to face a sea of opposition.
At the Gamadia Colony rally for Tirandaz, BPP trustee Khojeste Mistree was asked his progress on two pledges in his election manifesto. One pertained to declaring his personal assets if elected and the other, the planned aviary at Doongerwadi. As regards assets, he sidestepped the issue stating he would declare them if the others did so. Not being part of all their manifestoes it is unlikely this disclosure will take place. But even on Doongerwadi, which incidentally was made a major electoral issue by all the orthodox candidates who won, the answer was precious little.
Mistree claimed 55 vultures had been identified in neighboring areas/states which, when the time was right, would be brought to Bombay. That right time no doubt requires the aviary to be constructed to house the vultures. Otherwise they would roam free, eating rotting carcasses of livestock that have been fed diclofenac, a drug which when ingested by the winged scavengers would cause them to die a painful death.
During the 2008 election, Mistree had claimed if he was elected with like-minded people the aviary could be set up in two years. Six months down the line it is doubtful whether the subject has been discussed at any length in the boardroom or any meaningful plans have been drawn up. An aviary at Doongerwadi would not only cost crores of rupees but would have to withstand the strong winds and the monsoons. Doongerwadi being situated on a hill is more exposed to the elements. Putting up a weather proof aviary would be both a mammoth task and a feat of considerable engineering. In the meantime, Mistree says he visits Doongerwadi daily and even occasionally at midnight to see if Godrej Baug residents are parking their cars there.
Mistree also told the gathering that meetings between trustees continue till midnight and even 3.30 a.m. But what is it they have to discuss till so late? Is it housing plans, the aviary, education, social welfare or legal strategy to outwit their opponents within and without the Punchayet?
Mehta often tells those who inquire about what progress the BPP is making that the trustees are preoccupied with litigation and hence are unable to fulfill the mandate they were elected to carry out. But a mandate is given to hold office. How elected officials go about performing their duties depends on their individual skills, tact, abilities, foresight and wisdom.
The present trustees inherited a divided legacy. They have furthered that division. Instead of solving problems, they have created new ones. Until the trustees hold an official samast anjuman meeting to acquaint the community at large with their accomplishments, their achievements during their term in office may well be summed in Desai’s numerical: “zero.”
The campaign rally of former BPP trustee Maneck Engineer held at Tardeo was a sober, intellectual affair with less rhetoric and more content. The speakers were fewer, unemotional, stating their man’s strengths and experiences.
Armaity Tirandaz’s meet, also at Tardeo, was a more lively, interactive and charged event with allegations being tossed left, right and center against her main opponent, Engineer. Here the candidate herself spoke briefly while her supporters and well-wishers sang her praises and damned her opponent.
“How many houses has Maneck Engineer built during his six years in office?” asked Anahita Desai, wife of sitting trustee Yazdi and an emerging firebrand speaker. “Zero,” was her reply.
Why a single trustee, and that too a civil engineer, should be solely held responsible for the failure of constructing BPP housing is a puzzle. Creating new homes is the joint responsibility of all the seven trustees and requires harmony between the persons concerned, financial planning, land, government sanctions and of course, public goodwill.
If the trustees failed to construct housing during the six-year period Engineer was in office, it was a collective failure. That the previous seven trustees (which later became six with the death of Silloo Kavarana) did not see eye to eye on many issues is well-known. Four of them even tendered their resignations citing their inability to work with their colleague Dinshaw Mehta, the present chairman of the august body. Their skirmishes featured prominently in the Parsi and national Press and spilt into the courts of law.
But out of the turmoil and frustration, the scheme for universal adult franchise (UAF) for electing trustees emerged. The six trustees will always have this reform to their credit though ironically most of them disapprove of the UAF concept for a trust. (A democracy may not assure the best persons are elected but it does usually ensure that the persons elected are held accountable.)
But what legacy will the new trustees leave behind? Barely six months into office and their differences are being published in the newspapers, aired on television and argued in court.
Both in the Charity Commissioner’s office and the Bombay High Court, sitting trustee Noshir Dadrawala has publicly and legally separated himself from the actions and legal stance of his six, and now five colleagues, Rustom Tirandaz having died untimely while in office. Leave aside constructing any new housing, the new board whose leadership received a thumping mandate has been unable to allocate a single flat. Buildings that were built years ago are lying unused, unmaintained and now are in need of repair. Any new development plans are likely to face a sea of opposition.
At the Gamadia Colony rally for Tirandaz, BPP trustee Khojeste Mistree was asked his progress on two pledges in his election manifesto. One pertained to declaring his personal assets if elected and the other, the planned aviary at Doongerwadi. As regards assets, he sidestepped the issue stating he would declare them if the others did so. Not being part of all their manifestoes it is unlikely this disclosure will take place. But even on Doongerwadi, which incidentally was made a major electoral issue by all the orthodox candidates who won, the answer was precious little.
Mistree claimed 55 vultures had been identified in neighboring areas/states which, when the time was right, would be brought to Bombay. That right time no doubt requires the aviary to be constructed to house the vultures. Otherwise they would roam free, eating rotting carcasses of livestock that have been fed diclofenac, a drug which when ingested by the winged scavengers would cause them to die a painful death.
During the 2008 election, Mistree had claimed if he was elected with like-minded people the aviary could be set up in two years. Six months down the line it is doubtful whether the subject has been discussed at any length in the boardroom or any meaningful plans have been drawn up. An aviary at Doongerwadi would not only cost crores of rupees but would have to withstand the strong winds and the monsoons. Doongerwadi being situated on a hill is more exposed to the elements. Putting up a weather proof aviary would be both a mammoth task and a feat of considerable engineering. In the meantime, Mistree says he visits Doongerwadi daily and even occasionally at midnight to see if Godrej Baug residents are parking their cars there.
Mistree also told the gathering that meetings between trustees continue till midnight and even 3.30 a.m. But what is it they have to discuss till so late? Is it housing plans, the aviary, education, social welfare or legal strategy to outwit their opponents within and without the Punchayet?
Mehta often tells those who inquire about what progress the BPP is making that the trustees are preoccupied with litigation and hence are unable to fulfill the mandate they were elected to carry out. But a mandate is given to hold office. How elected officials go about performing their duties depends on their individual skills, tact, abilities, foresight and wisdom.
The present trustees inherited a divided legacy. They have furthered that division. Instead of solving problems, they have created new ones. Until the trustees hold an official samast anjuman meeting to acquaint the community at large with their accomplishments, their achievements during their term in office may well be summed in Desai’s numerical: “zero.”
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