An appeal to Parsi youth

(These views of the late economist and Tata Sons director Dr Fredie Mehta have been shared with Parsiana readers by his wife Keti — editors)
When you pray, pray for our country, our community and be proud to belong to the noble life giving, joy spreading religion of Zarathushtra.
To be a patriotic Indian does not mean that you must cease to be a Parsi. To be a secular Indian does not mean that you must surrender the immortal glories of our religion. Never let this poison gas of pseudo liberalism seduce and suffocate you as it seems to be now doing to so many Parsis. Stand ready to fight this issue of outright lies, subtle half truths, bogus myths and all pervading ignorance which are being spread in the name of liberalism and secularism.
For 13 centuries our beloved forefathers in India, and more so in Iran, have kept this flame and fire alive, not metaphorically but literally. It is for you to hold aloft this torch and keep the holy fire burning in your homes and in your hearts.
Our greatest enemies are not non-Parsis; the enemies lie within. At a time when almost every ethnic and religious group is prepared to die to preserve its identity, we are the only community in the world dying to die. Let a mass conversion be started — the conversion of Parsis into Zoroastrians.
Insanity parades as liberalism; ignorance and indifference pass off as sophistication; suicide is justified as an act of secularism. Reforms — yes; revolt — no; extermination — never. We do not ask you to be anti non-Parsis. We do not even ask you to be pro-Parsis. We only ask you not to be anti-Parsi.
Our pseudo liberals teach us that:
All religions lead us to one and the same God (true). Therefore, it does not matter which religion we belong to or which religion we marry into. Therefore, do not worry if you do not know anything about your religion and its distinctive features. A sweeter way of exterminating a 3,500-year-old religion could not possibly exist!
Happiness is the supreme goal of human life. If your children seek it in preference to their community and their religion, do not stand in their way. Happiness, not religion, must have the right of way.
Our community and our religion are "non-issues.”
Conversion must be allowed. Never mind if we know little or nothing about our own religion; never mind if the great majority of non-Parsi spouses do not agree to bringing up their children as Zoroastrians; never mind if a fairly large number of Parsi boys married to non-Parsi wives do not or cannot bring up their children as Zoroastrians.
Parsi girls do not find Parsi boys of the right caliber — strange, since non-Parsi girls do not seem to have any difficulty in doing so!
We must keep our sense of proportion. If the Parsi community disappears, there will be nearly six billion human beings still alive, but if the tigers disappear, what will be left of this wonderful and noble species? We must devote our time, effort and money to preserving wild life, not preserving the Parsi community.
The Parsi community has the highest incidence of madness due to continuous inbreeding.
Never mind if the 100 great Parsis whose luster has shone on Indian soil in the last 100 years, all save one (namely J. R. D. Tata) have been born of both Parsi parents. But after listening to our pseudo liberals about the prevailing madness in the Parsi community, they may be right — they are the genuinely mad people in our community.