Battling for votes

"Why did the four of us jump into the fray?” for the October 18 Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trusteeship elections, asked Cmde Medioma Bhada addressing a responsive gathering of nearly 100 people at the Cusrow Baug Pavilion on September 23, along with veterans Maj Gen Khurshed Balsara, Maj Gen Soli Pavri and Sq Ldr Minoo Wadia. "We may be from the defense forces but what happens (in the community) affects us as much. We have been approached (to stand). We had never thought we would.” An editorial in the Jam-e-Jamshed (JJ) weekly "made us realize having done so much for the country why couldn’t we do something for the community?”

Promising to deliver "maximum value with minimum resources,” Balsara said "this is what we have been doing all our lives.” Even at the function no microphone was used. "Faith in the BPP has been eroded,” he remarked. "Hope is getting diminished. We have to restore the value system in the (trust). The administrative structure is weak. You have to hit the ground running.”
"We require total transparency. We will give you every piece of information required,” he assured the enthusiastic crowd.
Having retired from the forces, they could give of their time adequately. Balsara noted they were all capable of hard work both inside and outside the boardroom. In the armed forces they were more often in the field than indoors. Observing that he handled complaints while in the military, he said just talking to the aggrieved individuals, giving an assessment of their work and enlightening them as to what future they had in the armed forces, reassured them. "Everyone is worried about their future.”
When a member of the audience asked them how they would cope with bureaucracy and corruption in the Bombay Municipal Corporation, the police, etc, if elected, Bhada pointed out that whenever they approached government officials, because of their military background and rank, things got done. "I don’t see why we should have a problem” now. Balsara noted that when on deputation to the United Nations he had dealt with the largest bureaucracy in the world, comprising 75 countries.
Stating that in the armed forces they interacted with civilians and were aware of how to deal with them, Wadia said they know that "in the army you tell a jawan to stand up and he does. You can’t do that in civilian life. The military also employs a large portion of civilians. If we can deal with them, why not with others? There is a misconception that the military only deals with military people.”
"None of us are fakers or takers. All of us are makers,” stated Pavri. "We will protect the BPP properties like lions. We want to make a change. Let problems come, we will confront them. We will take your opinion seriously and stand here only to serve.”
People asked whether we are orthodox or liberal, noted Pavri. He replied that he was a staunch Zoroastrian. When going on long expeditions by foot, carrying a backpack in which "every ounce mattered,” he took with him six sudrehs as no water would be available en route for washing clothes. He further elaborated that when a person was unwell he visited a doctor, when he had a legal problem he went to a lawyer, so when a religious issue arose they would approach the high priests and religious scholars.
The candidacy of the four has been backed by Dasturs (Drs) Firoze Kotwal and Peshotan Mirza, both orthodox high priests who normally give letters of support to individuals and causes promoted by World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis. Balsara reiterated they were traditionalists. When introducing the distinguished panel, Bhada was at pains to stress they were independent and not aligned to any group.
When one of the panelists lamented that an advertisement in the JJ drew a poor response from the youth, activist Hoshaang Gotla told them that they should have gone on Facebook to reach the youth. Balsara noted they have a Facebook page (courtesy JJ, which also carried their write up free of cost) and debunked the myth "that we don’t know about IT (information technology).” He noted that he had two young daughters well placed in life and was therefore familiar with the trends among the young.
When Cusrow Baug resident Bomi Hansotia inquired if the four retired defense personnel would have "the same enthusiasm to serve the community if they were not elected,” Balsara responded, "You don’t have to win everything” every time. "We can be a pressure group, an NGO (nongovernmental organization) committed for the long term.” Even if they do not win this time around, they could try "later and if not later then (even) later.”
At the end of the talk a woman in the gathering whose relatives had served in the armed forces stated the four contestants’ "status is our asset.”