Events & Personalities
Unfair to applicants
Traditionally, though Parsis have established several premier educational institutions in the country, they have rarely asked for reservation of seats in them for community members. But in the current highly competitive scenario some families have been seeking "minority certificates” from the government for their children. To obtain these, applicants have to provide a letter or some form of proof from a community organization to support the claim that they are indeed members of that particular community.
Some Parsis who approached the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) for such letters were reportedly asked to sign an application that contained an undertaking that they did not have any running legal disputes with the apex body, mentions Manoj Nair in Hindustan Times (HT) of November 8, 2013. Since the BPP manages a large stock of housing in Bombay, it is involved in a great deal of litigation with tenants, with allegations of illegalities from both sides.
In the first week of November the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission received a complaint about this requirement of signing such an undertaking. One of the complainants, Mehernosh Fitter of Dadar said that most of the applicants are families seeking admission for their children in trust run schools. Janet D’Souza, vice chairman of the Commission confirmed to HT that she had received the complaint and that "the trust cannot do that (ask for an undertaking). I am going to take up the matter.”
The letter received by D’Souza mentions that Zoroastrians are engaged in as many as 2,976 litigations with the BPP in various courts, an enormous number for such a numerically small community, though BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta told HT that the figure could be a few hundred. The applicants feel that such an undertaking would be unfair. Lawyers have advised them to apply for letters of endorsement from other community associations. In fact, advocate Deepak Talwar, who is helping families in need of "minority certificates” told HT that "they can themselves open an association of persons, register it, and get the recommendation letters issued by this group.”
Some Parsis who approached the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) for such letters were reportedly asked to sign an application that contained an undertaking that they did not have any running legal disputes with the apex body, mentions Manoj Nair in Hindustan Times (HT) of November 8, 2013. Since the BPP manages a large stock of housing in Bombay, it is involved in a great deal of litigation with tenants, with allegations of illegalities from both sides.
In the first week of November the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission received a complaint about this requirement of signing such an undertaking. One of the complainants, Mehernosh Fitter of Dadar said that most of the applicants are families seeking admission for their children in trust run schools. Janet D’Souza, vice chairman of the Commission confirmed to HT that she had received the complaint and that "the trust cannot do that (ask for an undertaking). I am going to take up the matter.”
The letter received by D’Souza mentions that Zoroastrians are engaged in as many as 2,976 litigations with the BPP in various courts, an enormous number for such a numerically small community, though BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta told HT that the figure could be a few hundred. The applicants feel that such an undertaking would be unfair. Lawyers have advised them to apply for letters of endorsement from other community associations. In fact, advocate Deepak Talwar, who is helping families in need of "minority certificates” told HT that "they can themselves open an association of persons, register it, and get the recommendation letters issued by this group.”
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