Readers' Forum
Who shall I vote for?
I am not even a registered voter nor am I canvassing for any particular candidate, but I would like to share my thoughts about the issues facing the community and seek answers from candidates contesting the Bombay Parsi Punchayet trusteeship elections.
Our community is facing extinction — by 2050 the population will be down to 20,000. Instead of being united in this difficult situation, we have divided ourselves in to factions like reformists and orthodox. Our youth need guidance and encouragement. We need to decide whether we want to revive the community or increase the numbers of followers of Zarathushtra’s religion. If we wish to maintain the community only on the basis of ethnicity, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
There is no ban on accepting anyone who voluntarily wishes to follow our religion. All our religious scriptures support it. So, there seems no other way out but to accept others willing to join. If we think of ourselves as one community believing in good thoughts and good deeds, there will be no factions. Factions are created by those seeking power — to get votes for political gain.
Our community is facing extinction — by 2050 the population will be down to 20,000. Instead of being united in this difficult situation, we have divided ourselves in to factions like reformists and orthodox. Our youth need guidance and encouragement. We need to decide whether we want to revive the community or increase the numbers of followers of Zarathushtra’s religion. If we wish to maintain the community only on the basis of ethnicity, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
There is no ban on accepting anyone who voluntarily wishes to follow our religion. All our religious scriptures support it. So, there seems no other way out but to accept others willing to join. If we think of ourselves as one community believing in good thoughts and good deeds, there will be no factions. Factions are created by those seeking power — to get votes for political gain.
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