“A heavy price”

The rift has widened between the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) and the Bardoli Jarthosti Anjuman (BJA) which was instrumental in helping form the "world” body in 2005. Angry e-mails have been exchanged between WAPIZ chairman Areez Khambatta and Homi Pithawala, the current BJA president.

In an e-mail dated June 30, 2011 addressed to Yasmine Sanjana originally of Bardoli who represents the Dumas anjuman at the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) meetings on behalf of WAPIZ, Khambatta wrote, "your unfaithful and ungrateful president Homi Pithawala accused me of ‘lagaaving him koniye gol, (hitting below the belt)’ which I am sure you know, is just not in my nature…

"I must have rung Pithawala and Pervez (Mehta, Yasmine’s brother) half a dozen times but as the saying goes ‘guilty conscience pricks the mind’ and that is why they avoided my phone calls nor did they have the guts to meet me at the Rustom Baug election…

"By the grace of Pak Dadar Ahura Mazda, WAPIZ and I have no hidden agenda but as the saying goes, ‘kamlaa ni aankhé, baddhuj piru (a person suffering from jaundice views all colors as yellow).’”

Areez Khambatta (left) and Homi Pithawala

In an e-mail dated July 1, 2011 Pithawala replied, "Here we wish to ask you Mr Khambatta — why did you become (a) member of Vyara Songadh Parsi Jarthosti Anjuman (VSPJA)? Was it not to gain power for becoming the vice president of the FPZAI? You Khambatta, are a power hungry person and when you lost the presidency of your Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat, your craving for power led you to become (a) member of the VSPJA and through it the vice (presidency) of FPZAI… You had initially wanted to re-enter the FPZAI through Amroli where you were sidelined by your very own WAPIZ founder trustee Hoshang Wania who inducted Jamshed Mohta [another of your WAPIZ founder trustees (and former president of the BJA — editors)] instead of you! You have again cheated the FPZAI by allowing Mohta to attend the last FPZAI meeting in Valsad during (March) 2011, whereas Amroli is not even a member of FPZAI. All are aware of your tactics and how WAPIZ wants to hijack the FPZAI and now the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), to usurp the properties belonging to Parsis…

"You Areez Kham-batta had promised… that as all the trustees of WAPIZ will be coming to Ahmedabad to attend the navjote of your grandchild; you will arrange our meeting with them. This was the reason Homi Pithawala and Pervez agreed to come for your function. But to our dismay, on reaching Ahmedabad you told them that the trustees of WAPIZ had decided not to meet us as they had come to attend a navjote and to enjoy themselves. You Mr Khambatta, gave us a car to take us to our lawyer’s office. This was the only help we received from you and we are ready to reimburse whatever expenses you had to incur for providing us a chauffeur driven car. Mr Khambatta what is more important for WAPIZ — attending a navjote and enjoying themselves or help to save our Parsi community’s dakhma land...

"According to your bye-laws and constitution, you are supposed to hold an AGM (annual general meeting) every year and elections are to be held every five years. When was the last time this was held? Why are your audited accounts not being circulated to your members?...

"We now very much regret the major role played by the BJA in helping the formation of WAPIZ whose trustees’ sole intention is to grab power and money by any means and in so doing, if the community is destroyed, so be it. You all from WAPIZ care nothing for our lovely religion and community. The formation of WAPIZ was a real blunder and the community will have to pay a heavy price for it.”