Disturbed by discrimination

"Permitting non-Zoroastrians to pay their last respects was at first, frowned on by many I am sure, including the attending priests who did object but gracefully then kept quiet; but a precedent had been set and today it is considered quite acceptable in our Karachi,” observed Toxy Cowasjee, editor of Hamazor in its second issue of 2012 referring to the year 1992 when her father-in-law Rustom Fakirjee Cowasjee passed away in Karachi. Her husband Cyrus invited all his non-Parsi business and personal friends to come into the room and pay their last respects believing that "these were his friends during his lifetime and had every reason to be treated with respect especially on this day. What is more we felt honored as these friends had taken the trouble to attend even from Islamabad,” she recalled. After the funeral at their residence, "as the body was leaving the gates, a Muslim friend after asking permission, recited the fateaha, a simple gesture, but so valued,” she added.

Cowasjee family (from left, standing) Cyrus, Ardeshir, (sitting) Cowasjee, Rustom and Mucca

Cowasjee cited this instance in her editorial as a rebuke to the Valsad trustees who are determined to bar Goolrookh Gupta entry to the fire temple and Doongerwadi on the grounds that she has married a non-Parsi. Questioned Toxy Cowasjee, "Do a few individuals have the right to decide such a personal matter of attending funeral rites? And how does a person attending, whether Zoroastrian or atheist, taint prayers? It is a matter of paying respect to the dead…We believe in one God. We are all the same especially when we die that is why we are dressed simply… Yet a person who marries a man from a different religion is not considered worthy of attending (her) own parents’ prayers. I find this viewpoint illogical. Unfortunately for Goolrookh the case has gone too public and too far for the Valsad Anjuman to retract on their principles as it would need a great deal of courage to undo something that should never have come to court…
"We continuously hear how great we are, how educated and refined we are in comparison to others, but I wonder where compassion and the constant adage of ‘good words, good thoughts, good deeds’ have vanished… Surely this (Valsad) Anjuman could have had the foresight to have amended their ancient rule, if it existed, enabling all Parsi Zoroastrians to be present for the prayers of the deceased if nothing else. It would certainly have saved the Anju­man time, costs and, more important, dignity in doing the right thing.”