Udvada Utsav benefits

The Udvada Samast Anjuman has issued a lengthy statement listing the positive outcomes of the recently concluded Iranshah Udvada Utsav (IUU) 2015. These include the fact that government has allocated funds for infrastructure development in Udvada; there are proper roads across Udvada village with less congestion near the entrance to Iranshah; regular electricity supply; a parking lot for visiting devotees; a local police station to come up with regular patrolling; construction of a Persian gate near Doongerwadi from government funds; construction of a concrete sea wall to prevent erosion.
The statement, which was unanimously approved by all the committee members notes that Udvada Samast Anjuman has never interfered in the affairs of other anjumans/associations and in turn "shall brook no interference in our affairs.” It is not "answerable to outside agencies or small pressure groups.” Individuals with "narrow vision (who) revel in fomenting discord… see a hidden agenda in everything. (They) have made it their mission to malign our Dastur Khurshed Dastoor in any and every positive initiative that he has undertaken for Iranshah and Udvada,” notes the statement.
Asserting that the nine athornan families have served the Iranshah over centuries by observing all the ritualistic discipline, the statement says they will ensure that this will be continued by the future generations as well. It gives the lie to the "canard” that the other high priests were not invited for the IUU. Dasturs (Drs) Kaikhusroo JamaspAsa, Firoze Kotwal and Peshotan Mirza did not attend due to prior commitments in Bombay, while Dastur Meherjirana of Navsari was absent on account of ill health. Many keepers of the flame who were present and participated in all three days of the IUU say they did not find anything that was "incorrect, harmful, amiss or detrimental” to the Iranshah and its precincts.
Regarding the controversy over former advocate general of Maharashtra Darius Khambata’s speech, it was reiterated that he was expressing his personal views with which the Anjuman and Dastoor are not in agreement. Neither Dastoor nor Mirza has ever encouraged conversion or mixed marriages in any form, the statement notes. Regretting that Bombay Parsi Punchayet chairman Yazdi Desai had issued a "loose” statement to the media, the Anjuman felt he should have first verified the facts and details with them or with Dastoor.