“The shame at Sanjan”

Your article "The shame at Sanjan” (Parsiana, March 7, 2010) has been read with great pain and sadness by some of our community members who are known to be peaceful, educated and loving.

Instead of being grateful to Dr Meher Master-Moos it was shocking to read how some of our community members behaved and treated a lone lady who was defending the Zoroastrian College and its invited guest. For this the community bows its heads in shame.

I knew Herbad Mikhail Chistyakov when I was based in Russia. He is a dedicated priest and a scholar based in St Petersburg and involved with the study and practice of the Zoroastrian religion from a long time. Many persons from these countries believe that Lord Zarathushtra was born in the Ural mountains of Russia and now they are destined to be followers of the ancient Prophet. They regularly perform congregational prayers, jashans, navjotes, celebrate festivals, translate the holy Avesta and other books into Russian, etc. Herbad Chistyakov’s knowledge, love and dedication to the good religion would surpass many a Parsi’s. May Ahura Mazda help Chistyakov in achieving his goal of spreading the good religion in Russia.

We should spread the teachings of Lord Zarathushtra in the Russian countries and give a helping hand to these groups in Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan and other places.

BURZIN ATASHBAND

Calgary, Canada

tzar_russia@yahoo.com