Politics and Policy
“Poaching panthakies”
Allegations and counter claims are being exchanged between the Bilimora and Gandevi anjumans
The news item "Poaching panthakies” (Events and Personalities, Parsiana, November 7, 2016) drew a sharp reaction from the Bilimora Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman denying allegations that they had "poached” a mobed from the Gandevi Parsi Anjuman. They also expressed regret that Parsiana had not sought their point of view before publishing the item. Parsiana apologizes for the oversight.
Farokh Shaher (left) and Marazban Baria
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Agiaries in Bilimora (left) and Gandevi
The Gandevi Anjuman had written on August 5, 2016 a letter of protest to the Bilimora anjuman recording their "protest in strong words,” more so in light of Bilimora’s complaint that the Nagpur Anjuman had poached their mobed. The grouse was voiced at the West Zone B Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) meet held in Valsad on July 24, 2016.
We carry here a letter from the Bilimora Anjuman, portions of a conversation with the new Bilimora priest Ervad Kurush Sidhwa and a rejoinder from the Gandevi Anjuman which dismisses the explanation offered by Bilimora.
MARAZBAN N. BARIA
Managing trustee, Bilimora Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman Trust Funds, wrote on November 19, 2016
The item "Poaching panthakies” (Events and Personalities, Parsiana, November 7, 2016) is one-sided, giving only the version of the Gandevi Parsi Anjuman. We would like to set the record straight.
The Bilimora Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman came to learn of the dispute between Ervad Kurush Sidhwa and the trustees of the Gandevi Parsi Anjuman. Sidhwa had requested an increase in salary in February 2016, but there being no response from the Gandevi trustees, he approached us on seeing our advertisement in Jam-e-Jamshed and Parsi Times for a full-time panthaky for the Bilimora adarian.
We asked Sidhwa to reconsider his decision to leave his job as he had served Gandevi for 23 years. I telephoned Homi Suratia, Gandevi Parsi Anjuman trustee, who was in Noida at that time, to sort out the matter. On July 24, during the FPZAI meeting at Valsad, I personally requested Farokh Shaher, another Gandevi trustee, to act in the matter, but they did not seem interested. Sidhwa’s salary was Rs 13,000 pm (per month), and he had asked for an increase of Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 so it would amount to Rs 18,000-Rs 20,000. Gandevi’s newly appointed panthaky, Ervad Adil Toti, is being paid Rs 22,000 pm.
In his application Sidhwa had stated that if we did not appoint him he would move to Bombay, so I contacted Sam Chothia of the Valsad Parsi Anjuman and West Zone B vice president of FPZAI to discuss the matter. Chothia suggested that as Sidhwa was refusing to work at Gandevi and had tendered his resignation, the Bilimora Parsi Anjuman could appoint him. We sought a second opinion from Dara Deboo of Malesar Parsi Behdin Anjuman Navsari who concurred with Chothia.
Chothia and I tried to find a suitable priest for Gandevi. He succeeded in finding Toti and informed Shaher about this on August 3, 2016. Shaher had no objection to Toti’s appointment. That same day Chothia told me about this, and mentioned that the Bilimora Parsi Anjuman was free to appoint Sidhwa. On August 8, we appointed Sidhwa with effect from September 1, 2016.
Can this be called poaching? We could have easily snatched Sidhwa during August to serve during the muktad days, but we refrained from such an unethical practice. Our previous panthaky had given us only one month’s notice before moving to Nagpur, thereby causing us tremendous difficulties during the muktad days, but the Katrak family of Chikhli came to our rescue, performing all the muktad rites successfully with tarikats.
Till date we have allowed both priests to perform boi (ritual performed to mark the five intervals of the day) at the Gandevi Adarian as Toti is on leave. We could have easily refused, but our prime consideration being to safeguard the atash padshah (fire), whether of Bilimora or Gandevi, we will continue helping the Gandevi Adarian as and when required.
The trustees of Gandevi have blamed us unfairly and their attitude is to be condemned.
Managing trustee, Bilimora Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman Trust Funds, wrote on November 19, 2016
The item "Poaching panthakies” (Events and Personalities, Parsiana, November 7, 2016) is one-sided, giving only the version of the Gandevi Parsi Anjuman. We would like to set the record straight.
The Bilimora Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman came to learn of the dispute between Ervad Kurush Sidhwa and the trustees of the Gandevi Parsi Anjuman. Sidhwa had requested an increase in salary in February 2016, but there being no response from the Gandevi trustees, he approached us on seeing our advertisement in Jam-e-Jamshed and Parsi Times for a full-time panthaky for the Bilimora adarian.
We asked Sidhwa to reconsider his decision to leave his job as he had served Gandevi for 23 years. I telephoned Homi Suratia, Gandevi Parsi Anjuman trustee, who was in Noida at that time, to sort out the matter. On July 24, during the FPZAI meeting at Valsad, I personally requested Farokh Shaher, another Gandevi trustee, to act in the matter, but they did not seem interested. Sidhwa’s salary was Rs 13,000 pm (per month), and he had asked for an increase of Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 so it would amount to Rs 18,000-Rs 20,000. Gandevi’s newly appointed panthaky, Ervad Adil Toti, is being paid Rs 22,000 pm.
In his application Sidhwa had stated that if we did not appoint him he would move to Bombay, so I contacted Sam Chothia of the Valsad Parsi Anjuman and West Zone B vice president of FPZAI to discuss the matter. Chothia suggested that as Sidhwa was refusing to work at Gandevi and had tendered his resignation, the Bilimora Parsi Anjuman could appoint him. We sought a second opinion from Dara Deboo of Malesar Parsi Behdin Anjuman Navsari who concurred with Chothia.
Chothia and I tried to find a suitable priest for Gandevi. He succeeded in finding Toti and informed Shaher about this on August 3, 2016. Shaher had no objection to Toti’s appointment. That same day Chothia told me about this, and mentioned that the Bilimora Parsi Anjuman was free to appoint Sidhwa. On August 8, we appointed Sidhwa with effect from September 1, 2016.
Can this be called poaching? We could have easily snatched Sidhwa during August to serve during the muktad days, but we refrained from such an unethical practice. Our previous panthaky had given us only one month’s notice before moving to Nagpur, thereby causing us tremendous difficulties during the muktad days, but the Katrak family of Chikhli came to our rescue, performing all the muktad rites successfully with tarikats.
Till date we have allowed both priests to perform boi (ritual performed to mark the five intervals of the day) at the Gandevi Adarian as Toti is on leave. We could have easily refused, but our prime consideration being to safeguard the atash padshah (fire), whether of Bilimora or Gandevi, we will continue helping the Gandevi Adarian as and when required.
The trustees of Gandevi have blamed us unfairly and their attitude is to be condemned.
FAROKH SHAHER
Trustee, Gandevi Parsi Anjuman, wrote on November 23, 2016
The statement of the Bilimora Anjuman that Ervad Kurush Sidhwa’s request for a salary raise was turned down by the Gandevi Anjuman is totally false. On the contrary, we had confirmed with Sidhwa that we (three trustees and Sidhwa) would meet at my residence in Bombay after the muktad ceremonies to reach a settlement.
Does the cap not fit the Bilimora Anjuman perfectly for doing the same thing with Ervad Percy Panthaki who left them with just one month’s notice and took up the post of panthaky at Nagpur since he was not offered a decent rise in salary?
The Bilimora Anjuman’s claim that they had consultations with us about this matter is ridiculous. To let Bilimora snatch away our only priest without finding a replacement would be suicidal and moronic on our part as it would mean that we would have to either shut down or reduce the adarian to a dadgah by appointing a behdin pasbaan. Our trustee Homji Suratia and manager Neville Vasania had addressed a letter to the Bilimora Anjuman with copies to some other anjumans in the West Zone, and to FPZAI presidentYazdi Desai and Sam Chothia stating our objections to the Bilimora Anjuman’s action. To add insult to injury, the Bilimora Anjuman sent an eight-page reply addressed to the Gandevi Anjuman trustees trying to justify their actions and informing us that we would shortly receive a notice from their lawyers.
What makes matters worse is the fact that the Bilimora Anjuman had already appointed Ervad Phiroze Karanjia to look after their adarian and then planned to poach our priest as a second mobed just because they have the funds to pay for two priests. They could have raised Panthaki’s remuneration instead of appointing two priests in his stead.
I narrate here the actual sequence of events leading to the current situation. On July 24, 2016, at the FPZAI West Zone meeting in Valsad, Marazban Baria, managing trustee of the Bilimora Anjuman spoke passionately about the poaching of his mobed at short notice by Nagpur Anjuman without a thought about what would happen to the anjuman where the priest had been employed. That very same evening, on returning to Bilimora, he met Sidhwa and offered him a job at the Bilimora adarian with a pay packet of Rs 30,000. Sidhwa informed Suratia of this development saying he would be submitting his resignation on the last day of the month and cease to be in our employment from September 1, 2016. Suratia immediately conveyed this to me and I called Baria to say this was not fair especially since he had been so vocal about the same sort of behavior by the Nagpur Anjuman that very morning, playing the role of victim to perfection. Besides, Gandevi and Bilimora have had a very close relationship for the last 80 years or more and used to help each other out in times of need by sharing mobeds, volunteers for corpse bearing, etc. Baria pacified me over the phone, saying he would appoint Sidhwa only if we gave him a no objection certificate. That was the last communication between the trustees of the two anjumans.
The next morning Sidhwa made it very clear to me that his decision was not reversible and there was no scope for negotiations, a message he conveyed to all the other trustees as well.
I inserted an advertisement in the Jam-e-Jamshed and Parsi Times for a mobed but received no reply from anyone. On the way back from the Jame office I met Chothia near Rhythm House and spoke to him at length about the situation. Since that day I have been in constant touch with him and he has taken great pains to locate and help us appoint Toti as panthaky of our adarian. Chothia has also been of great assistance in finding priests to tend our adarian fire whenever Toti has to leave Gandevi for any reason.
I would also like to mention that although Sidhwa has resigned as our mobed, he continues to work for us as accounts manager and still looks after the adarian fire when Toti is out of town.
Finding a replacement priest would have been impossible without Chothia’s assistance and we at the Gandevi Parsi Trust Fund are truly grateful for his constant support. The FPZAI West Zone could not have appointed a better chairman.
Trustee, Gandevi Parsi Anjuman, wrote on November 23, 2016
The statement of the Bilimora Anjuman that Ervad Kurush Sidhwa’s request for a salary raise was turned down by the Gandevi Anjuman is totally false. On the contrary, we had confirmed with Sidhwa that we (three trustees and Sidhwa) would meet at my residence in Bombay after the muktad ceremonies to reach a settlement.
Does the cap not fit the Bilimora Anjuman perfectly for doing the same thing with Ervad Percy Panthaki who left them with just one month’s notice and took up the post of panthaky at Nagpur since he was not offered a decent rise in salary?
The Bilimora Anjuman’s claim that they had consultations with us about this matter is ridiculous. To let Bilimora snatch away our only priest without finding a replacement would be suicidal and moronic on our part as it would mean that we would have to either shut down or reduce the adarian to a dadgah by appointing a behdin pasbaan. Our trustee Homji Suratia and manager Neville Vasania had addressed a letter to the Bilimora Anjuman with copies to some other anjumans in the West Zone, and to FPZAI presidentYazdi Desai and Sam Chothia stating our objections to the Bilimora Anjuman’s action. To add insult to injury, the Bilimora Anjuman sent an eight-page reply addressed to the Gandevi Anjuman trustees trying to justify their actions and informing us that we would shortly receive a notice from their lawyers.
What makes matters worse is the fact that the Bilimora Anjuman had already appointed Ervad Phiroze Karanjia to look after their adarian and then planned to poach our priest as a second mobed just because they have the funds to pay for two priests. They could have raised Panthaki’s remuneration instead of appointing two priests in his stead.
I narrate here the actual sequence of events leading to the current situation. On July 24, 2016, at the FPZAI West Zone meeting in Valsad, Marazban Baria, managing trustee of the Bilimora Anjuman spoke passionately about the poaching of his mobed at short notice by Nagpur Anjuman without a thought about what would happen to the anjuman where the priest had been employed. That very same evening, on returning to Bilimora, he met Sidhwa and offered him a job at the Bilimora adarian with a pay packet of Rs 30,000. Sidhwa informed Suratia of this development saying he would be submitting his resignation on the last day of the month and cease to be in our employment from September 1, 2016. Suratia immediately conveyed this to me and I called Baria to say this was not fair especially since he had been so vocal about the same sort of behavior by the Nagpur Anjuman that very morning, playing the role of victim to perfection. Besides, Gandevi and Bilimora have had a very close relationship for the last 80 years or more and used to help each other out in times of need by sharing mobeds, volunteers for corpse bearing, etc. Baria pacified me over the phone, saying he would appoint Sidhwa only if we gave him a no objection certificate. That was the last communication between the trustees of the two anjumans.
The next morning Sidhwa made it very clear to me that his decision was not reversible and there was no scope for negotiations, a message he conveyed to all the other trustees as well.
I inserted an advertisement in the Jam-e-Jamshed and Parsi Times for a mobed but received no reply from anyone. On the way back from the Jame office I met Chothia near Rhythm House and spoke to him at length about the situation. Since that day I have been in constant touch with him and he has taken great pains to locate and help us appoint Toti as panthaky of our adarian. Chothia has also been of great assistance in finding priests to tend our adarian fire whenever Toti has to leave Gandevi for any reason.
I would also like to mention that although Sidhwa has resigned as our mobed, he continues to work for us as accounts manager and still looks after the adarian fire when Toti is out of town.
Finding a replacement priest would have been impossible without Chothia’s assistance and we at the Gandevi Parsi Trust Fund are truly grateful for his constant support. The FPZAI West Zone could not have appointed a better chairman.
ERVAD KURUSH SIDHWA
In a telephone call on November 11, 2016, Ervad Kurush Sidhwa confirmed the statements made by Baria. He said he received "no answer” to his request for higher emoluments though "I worked with lagani (care)…” He decided then to reply to an advertisement for the opening of a mobed/panthaky placed by the Bilimora Anjuman.
Once Sidhwa left he arranged for a "reliever” and even went back to assist. "For 10 days we were giving boi there. We will not let the padshah down.”
Sidhwa continues to do the accounting work for the Gandevi Anjuman for which he says he is paid Rs 4,500 a month. "I do all the work from A to Z without hesitation.” Around 20 Parsis reside in Gandevi, he says.
In a telephone call on November 11, 2016, Ervad Kurush Sidhwa confirmed the statements made by Baria. He said he received "no answer” to his request for higher emoluments though "I worked with lagani (care)…” He decided then to reply to an advertisement for the opening of a mobed/panthaky placed by the Bilimora Anjuman.
Once Sidhwa left he arranged for a "reliever” and even went back to assist. "For 10 days we were giving boi there. We will not let the padshah down.”
Sidhwa continues to do the accounting work for the Gandevi Anjuman for which he says he is paid Rs 4,500 a month. "I do all the work from A to Z without hesitation.” Around 20 Parsis reside in Gandevi, he says.
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