“A little learning”

A Russian Zoroastrian goes through the ‘navar’ ceremony and the gibbet holds his hand in horror. The vada dasturjis press the panic button and a mob of ‘concerned’ Parsis, led by none other than the chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, storm the Zoroastrian College to stop the ceremony. The whole affair could have been handled with a modicum of restraint. But that would not have been half as dramatic. It was exactly as your editorial ("A little learning…” Parsiana, March 7) said, a little learning on the part of the mob, a little rabble-rousing on the part of the leaders and what do we have, poor impulse control and Talibanic frenzy.

Let us go back in time by about 1,300 years when the Islamic hordes had descended upon Iran and in about 100 years almost the entire Persian population had embraced Islam. Many were converted by the sword. Many must have converted to gain the advantage of belonging to the same religion as the rulers and to gain benefits such as exemption from jazia, getting employment in the state service and to escape humiliation and persecution that they were subjected to. Some might have been attracted by Islam’s simple form. Those who preferred to adhere to their Zoroastrian faith left their ancestral homes and fled to inaccessible localities of Iran to preserve their religion and cultural independence. Several tolas (groups) moved out of Iran. Some went West and soon were assimilated into the local culture and lost their identity as Zoroastrians. Some tolas went northwards.

Dastur Darab P. Sanjana in the introductory pages of his very lucidly written history Ancient Persia And The Parsis writes (i.e. in 1930s) that there are 3,700 families known as Yazadies who have their home in the mountain territory in the north of Mosul in Mesopotamia. It was informed by their chief that they are of Persian Zoroastrian extraction. They are the descendents from Zoroastrians who after the Arab conquest emigrated taking the northeastern route and settling in the vicinity of what is now the Russian frontiers. Here they were known as Yazdan-Parast. Their faith has resemblance to the Mazdayasni faith and they observe a number of Zoroastrian customs and possess one book called Zend Avesta which they do not show to anyone. One such tolo went to one of the sea ports of Iran from where they sailed down southeast and came to the island of Diu off the coast of Kathiawar.

The Russian who was going through the navar ceremony at Sanjan is a Russian Zoroastrian, just as we are Indian Zoroastrians. The only difference is that we were fortunate to come to this great peace-loving land of India with its tolerance for diverse faiths and our Good Religion survived and flourished and our people flourished without losing our identity. We have had it comparatively easy. Those who went to Russia and other places did not receive the same warm and generous welcome that we got. They suffered untold hardships and humiliations, yet kept their faith alive, if not openly, within the four walls of their homes. The eternal flame of their faith always burned within their hearts and kept alive the Din-e-Mazdayasni in spite of the atheist communist regime. How strong must their faith be in Ahura Mazda.

We must clearly understand that Zoroastrianism is not some local cult as preached by some charlatan bawa, or some godman to whom even our so-called orthodox Parsis go flocking. Zarathushtra has been one of the greatest lawgivers of all times. He received enlightenment from Ahura Mazda and his teachings are universal in nature, hence all embracing and should be open to all.

We are a diminishing community and might become extinct in the near future. We must rid ourselves of this ‘dog in the manger’ syndrome that we suffer from and let us at least ensure that Zoroastrianism will continue to survive and flourish elsewhere. Let it be the Parsi legacy to the world.

DARA M. JAMSHEDJI

dara_mk@hotmail.com