Editorial Viewpoint
The other side
While the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) is always in the limelight and its elections for trusteeship are keenly contested, the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman (IZA) is a closed shop.
Elections to office are held, but office bearers refuse to talk to the media. They are paranoic that if issues are publicized they will snowball into major controversies. Thus when we approached the IZA president Mehrwan Irani to talk about the Anjuman and the Iranians he said the seven trustees and 40 or so committee members had taken “a policy decision” not to speak to the Press.
One can understand trustees or committee members of a private trust or a public trust for which no elective offices are held refusing to speak to the Fourth Estate (though of course, it would reflect poorly on the organization). Or if the office bearers stated they were averse to speaking to a certain section of the media (for example both BPP trustees Khojeste Mistree and Yazdi Desai refused to grant Parsiana interviews after being elected) but to state that all officials of publicly elected organizations will, as a policy, not speak to the media is unacceptable. They are beholden to do so.
Elected officials are answerable to the public and, for better or worse, journalists are the most important link between the electorate and the elected.
When training US military generals, brigadiers and colonels how to deal with the Press Major General John Meyers tells them “they must learn to deal with reporters, which they clearly don’t relish. They claim to find them ‘sensationalistic,’ ‘insensitive,’ ‘biased’ and ‘adversarial.’ He shrugs off those adjectives. ‘If we don’t tell our side of the story, shame on us,’ he says. ‘Reporters are like alligators: You don’t have to love them, you don’t necessarily have to like them. But you do have to feed them.’” (“US ‘Baby Generals’ attend charm school” The Wall Street Journal, January 20, 1998)
Perhaps our trustees could imbibe this homily. If information is not forthcoming from firsthand sources, journalists have to turn to secondary sources thereby increasing the likelihood of incorrect or partisan information being published.
Parsiana’s intention was not to focus on the controversies pertaining to the properties of the IZA which as one member stated is a very “touchy subject.” The Anjuman has around 1,500 acres in Palghar (which according to their annual report for the period April 2007 to March 2008 earned an annual income of around 20 lakh rupees from the sale of grass and Rs 1,76,454 for the sale of chickoos). Rather we wanted to find out about the community. After speaking to four different people who expressed their inability to talk to Parsiana, Perzon Zend of Peekay Wines and Yazdani Bakery readily agreed.
Outspoken and involved with the community he pointed out the dilemmas Iranis today face. They are not “Iran ké Iranis” — the generation that migrated from Iran and settled here — nor are they Parsis. “We’re a minority of minorities,” is how he puts it. In the conventional business of restaurants and bakeries there are very few (Iranis) now. Only those with brand names such as Kyani, Yazdani, etc continue. “These are landmarks.” The rest are in “serious difficulties.” The younger generation does not want to sit at the galla (till).
The old concept of partnership or joint ownership in the businesses was essential. “It’s a 20-hour job. One man can never do everything.” The day starts early with marketing and continues till the establishment closes at night. “At one time all the partners would work. Now they have all become Parsis (i.e. want jobs). If nobody is working, the partnership fails. The business is sold off.”
He made his own sons sit at the galla during college days and the training they received in handling customers resulted in one of his sons today managing a luxury store. Before that he was selling Gucci products, including ladies purses priced at two lakh rupees each. If he stays on he would be promoted to look after multiple stores, says Zend. “He’ll have to travel. When will he start a family?” According to him few Iranis marry outside the faith. “People are traditionalists… there is bonding. We’re a clan; there’s plenty of clangiri about us.” The well-to-do, the “westernized” and those who study abroad are more prone to marry out.
The Iranis’ traditional ties with landed property is weakening. The old adage zameen vaggar dhan nahi malé (without land there is no wealth) has taken a beating with the chickoo crops being hit by a new strain of moles formed due to environmental pollution allegedly created by a power generating plant at Dahanu, Zend notes. “Wadi kerva maa faido nathi (farming is not worthwhile),” claim the local agriculturists. As the Dahanu region is in a green belt zone no industry is permitted either. “They are hit from both sides,” he observes. The only option is to sell the land or develop it by constructing bungalows and selling them as Zend is doing.
He believes the number of indigent Iranis is few. The Iranis “are the more robust side of the (Zoroastrian) community in India,” Zend claims. But the “Anjuman’s income and disbursement” statement in the annual report states, “With the high costs of living today, the poor and needy members of our community are approaching us in increasing numbers for monetary assistance for medical treatment, relief of poverty and their children’s education.” The income for the financial year ending March 2008 is shown as Rs 52,44,996 of which 26 lakhs is from interest payments. Expenses are pegged at a little under 50 lakhs rupees with doles accounting for around 40 lakhs.
In comparison with the BPP, the functioning of the IZA remains shrouded in secrecy (not that the BPP is an open book. Anjuman committee meetings are held at the most once in 10 years and there is almost no accountability). Irani women are denied the basic right to vote in the IZA and cannot run for office. A few can however be coopted on the managing committee or become patrons.
The IZA needs to reform, to emerge from the shadows and code of secrecy if it is to truly reflect the strengths of this remarkable group of Zoroastrians.
Elections to office are held, but office bearers refuse to talk to the media. They are paranoic that if issues are publicized they will snowball into major controversies. Thus when we approached the IZA president Mehrwan Irani to talk about the Anjuman and the Iranians he said the seven trustees and 40 or so committee members had taken “a policy decision” not to speak to the Press.
One can understand trustees or committee members of a private trust or a public trust for which no elective offices are held refusing to speak to the Fourth Estate (though of course, it would reflect poorly on the organization). Or if the office bearers stated they were averse to speaking to a certain section of the media (for example both BPP trustees Khojeste Mistree and Yazdi Desai refused to grant Parsiana interviews after being elected) but to state that all officials of publicly elected organizations will, as a policy, not speak to the media is unacceptable. They are beholden to do so.
Elected officials are answerable to the public and, for better or worse, journalists are the most important link between the electorate and the elected.
When training US military generals, brigadiers and colonels how to deal with the Press Major General John Meyers tells them “they must learn to deal with reporters, which they clearly don’t relish. They claim to find them ‘sensationalistic,’ ‘insensitive,’ ‘biased’ and ‘adversarial.’ He shrugs off those adjectives. ‘If we don’t tell our side of the story, shame on us,’ he says. ‘Reporters are like alligators: You don’t have to love them, you don’t necessarily have to like them. But you do have to feed them.’” (“US ‘Baby Generals’ attend charm school” The Wall Street Journal, January 20, 1998)
Perhaps our trustees could imbibe this homily. If information is not forthcoming from firsthand sources, journalists have to turn to secondary sources thereby increasing the likelihood of incorrect or partisan information being published.
Parsiana’s intention was not to focus on the controversies pertaining to the properties of the IZA which as one member stated is a very “touchy subject.” The Anjuman has around 1,500 acres in Palghar (which according to their annual report for the period April 2007 to March 2008 earned an annual income of around 20 lakh rupees from the sale of grass and Rs 1,76,454 for the sale of chickoos). Rather we wanted to find out about the community. After speaking to four different people who expressed their inability to talk to Parsiana, Perzon Zend of Peekay Wines and Yazdani Bakery readily agreed.
Outspoken and involved with the community he pointed out the dilemmas Iranis today face. They are not “Iran ké Iranis” — the generation that migrated from Iran and settled here — nor are they Parsis. “We’re a minority of minorities,” is how he puts it. In the conventional business of restaurants and bakeries there are very few (Iranis) now. Only those with brand names such as Kyani, Yazdani, etc continue. “These are landmarks.” The rest are in “serious difficulties.” The younger generation does not want to sit at the galla (till).
The old concept of partnership or joint ownership in the businesses was essential. “It’s a 20-hour job. One man can never do everything.” The day starts early with marketing and continues till the establishment closes at night. “At one time all the partners would work. Now they have all become Parsis (i.e. want jobs). If nobody is working, the partnership fails. The business is sold off.”
He made his own sons sit at the galla during college days and the training they received in handling customers resulted in one of his sons today managing a luxury store. Before that he was selling Gucci products, including ladies purses priced at two lakh rupees each. If he stays on he would be promoted to look after multiple stores, says Zend. “He’ll have to travel. When will he start a family?” According to him few Iranis marry outside the faith. “People are traditionalists… there is bonding. We’re a clan; there’s plenty of clangiri about us.” The well-to-do, the “westernized” and those who study abroad are more prone to marry out.
The Iranis’ traditional ties with landed property is weakening. The old adage zameen vaggar dhan nahi malé (without land there is no wealth) has taken a beating with the chickoo crops being hit by a new strain of moles formed due to environmental pollution allegedly created by a power generating plant at Dahanu, Zend notes. “Wadi kerva maa faido nathi (farming is not worthwhile),” claim the local agriculturists. As the Dahanu region is in a green belt zone no industry is permitted either. “They are hit from both sides,” he observes. The only option is to sell the land or develop it by constructing bungalows and selling them as Zend is doing.
He believes the number of indigent Iranis is few. The Iranis “are the more robust side of the (Zoroastrian) community in India,” Zend claims. But the “Anjuman’s income and disbursement” statement in the annual report states, “With the high costs of living today, the poor and needy members of our community are approaching us in increasing numbers for monetary assistance for medical treatment, relief of poverty and their children’s education.” The income for the financial year ending March 2008 is shown as Rs 52,44,996 of which 26 lakhs is from interest payments. Expenses are pegged at a little under 50 lakhs rupees with doles accounting for around 40 lakhs.
In comparison with the BPP, the functioning of the IZA remains shrouded in secrecy (not that the BPP is an open book. Anjuman committee meetings are held at the most once in 10 years and there is almost no accountability). Irani women are denied the basic right to vote in the IZA and cannot run for office. A few can however be coopted on the managing committee or become patrons.
The IZA needs to reform, to emerge from the shadows and code of secrecy if it is to truly reflect the strengths of this remarkable group of Zoroastrians.
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