Sanctity compromised

When I saw a festive atmosphere while passing Doongerwadi I was shocked and felt it my duty, as a Zoroastrian, to intervene. I do not have any axe to grind with anybody. I am only concerned with the duties that I am expected to perform.

The sanctity of Doongerwadi has been compromised, which is an extremely serious matter. Whosoever may have given the permission for the film unit to use the area has undoubtedly erred. However, it does not mean that other trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) can sit back and absolve themselves of responsibility, more so when they are alerted to the facts.

If the statement that BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta had informed trustee Khojeste Mistree that the matter had been settled and there was no need for him to go to the Doongerwadi complex is not a figment of an overactive imagination, then there can be no reason why this was not conveyed to those who went to his house or telephoned seeking his intervention, as he happens to be residing literally next door to the Doongerwadi complex.

One wonders what happened to the pre-electoral promises of candidates that they would be 24x7 trustees at the beck and call of the community 364 days a year. Sanctimonious comments of not allowing any commercial activity at Doongerwadi are meaningless, if trustees do not respond when alerted and are needed.

As for Mistree taking credit for thwarting plans to turn Udvada into a tourism and cultural center as reported in The WAPIZ Page of The Free Press Journal on October 14, 2011, it should be mentioned that the objective to establish the Zoroastrian Information Centre (ZIC) at Udvada has long been achieved. In fact, Gujarat’s chief minister Narendra Modi mentioned during his speech at Udvada on April 24, 2011 after visiting ZIC that his department had been misled by critics whose criticism was misplaced and made out of envy.

DASTUR KHURSHED DASTOOR