Navsari priest opts for burial

"Homi Kotwal was my dear friend. I am (the) executor of his will, as well as (a trustee) of his trust. He had taken a promise from me that I would take his body to Vansda for burial, which I have fulfilled. May Dadar Hormaz grant his soul heavenly peace is my prayer,” wrote Yazdi Kasad, trustee of the Navsari Bhagarsath Anjuman and executor of Ervad Homi Bapuji Kotwal’s will. Kasad was responding to online comments from orthodox groups like the Traditional Zoroastrians Mailing List claiming that the priest had passed away in Vansda and was therefore interred there. Community activist Homi Dalal first publicized the episode on WhatsApp/email.
There is proof, however, the 81-year-old priest passed away in Navsari on February 16, 2016 and his body was taken to Vansda for burial as per his wishes. Though a yozdathregar mobed (one entitled to perform higher rituals) and varadar (senior) boiwala for over 50 years at the Navsari Atash Behram attached to the Navsari Bhagarsath Anjuman, Kotwal was convinced that the system of dakhmenashini had collapsed and had left instructions that he should not be consigned to the dakhma at Navsari.
When the orthodox online ranting continued, Kasad issued a statement, attaching a scanned copy of Kotwal’s death certificate: "Ervad Homi Bapuji Kotwal did not pass away at Vansda but in Orange Hospital at Navsari. His death certificate is attached.
"His body was taken to Vansda. The consecrated hearse of the Navsari Samast Anjuman along with ijayla geyan (consecrated metal bier) was sent to Vansda where the geh sarna was performed and then taken for burial in the geyan in the hearse.
The Bhagaria mobeds of Navsari are in favor of burial as all those who think we are playing mischief or giving wrong information will soon find out.”

the cortège and grave being prepared in Vansda

On February 19 Dinshaw Tamboly, managing trustee of the World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust Funds posted on Parsiana’s Facebook page: "Considering that late Homi Kotwal was a boiwala sahib of Navsari Atash Behram, it was very courageous of him to opt for an alternative mode of disposal. It establishes that he was a ‘realist’ who applied his mind to the realities prevailing in our times. I knew him over the years as a very humble person. In his passing he has displayed that he was capable of taking pragmatic decisions. RIP.”
Before Kotwal’s body was taken to Vansda, a large number of priests and laypersons of the community paid their last respects. Several Parsis of Navsari, along with some elders, trustees and office bearers of the Navsari Bhagarsath Anjuman, attended the paidast performed by Ervads Freddy Palia and Mehernosh Madan. Kotwal’s uthamna was held on February 18 at Navsari’s Vadi Dar-e-Meher, one of the oldest religious institutions of the community in India where the maximum number of navars and maratabs have been initiated, mentions Kasad.
That the four-day ceremonies were conducted at the Vadi Dar-e-Meher without any fuss regarding the method of disposal reveals that the Navsari Bhagarsath Anjuman has been "practical and right-minded,” underlining that the city’s Zoroastrians have, over the centuries, taken the lead in many important social, economic and religious community reforms. Amongst those attending the prayers was Dastur K. N. Dastur Meherjirana.
In a later Facebook post Kasad mentions that the orthodox groups have asked why Kotwal was "removed from the post of the varadar boiwala sahib” of the Navsari Atash Behram.
Refuting this canard, he explained that Kotwal, who was suffering from a prostate problem had voluntarily stepped down from his post after decades of service. Kotwal continued to remain senior secretary of the Atash Behram and until the very end received a pension, which fact can be ascertained from the trustees of the Navsari Bhagarsath Anjuman. Kasad also writes that "many people of Navsari are in favor of burial and they will achieve what they desire.”
Most of the Gujarat anjumans wish to use their Doongerwadi grounds for burial. A move to vote on the subject at the West Zone B meet of the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India on August 2, 2015 was rejected by West Zone B vice president Sam Chothia.