Events & Personalities
Parsis not Indian?
Parsis not Indian?
Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi (pictured), chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), has noted in a statement dated
September 13, 2017 that his comments that "other communities have a prejudice against Parsis that they are closer to the United States and Israel, therefore, they are seen as foreigners and not Indians,” as quoted by Sunday Guardian Live (SGL) on September 3, were "totally misrepresented by the reporter of the newspaper.” Describing the report as "baseless,” he reiterated that as chairman of the NCM, it was his duty to keep all notified minority communities, including the Parsis, in utmost peace and harmony. A copy of Rizvi’s statement was emailed to Parsiana by Udvada High Priest and member of the NCM, Dastur Khurshed Dastoor.
"Among Parsis, groupism is strong. There are several sects that follow different religious leaders. This leads to conflict within the community,” Rizvi was quoted in the report. "Half of the cases (complaints) registered by the Parsis (are) against Parsis, while the rest are against the majority community,” he told SGL. The news report stated that in 2011-12, "Parsis registered only nine complaints with NCM. In the next year, 10 complaints were registered. In 2013-14, there were 13 complaints, whereas it was 10 in 2014-15. In 2015-16, the number was 11 as recorded by the NCM until March 28. He was commenting on the complaints filed by the community between 2012 and 2016, vis-à-vis the statistics on "communal incidents” collated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that shows an overall downward trend since 2012. The MHA data is being used by NCM to lay out a road map for its communal sensitization programs.
Rizvi, a former general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Minority Morcha, had raised hackles when he recommended in June this year that Indians who cheered for Pakistan’s cricket team should go to Pakistan, "or better still be deported there.”
Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi (pictured), chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), has noted in a statement dated
September 13, 2017 that his comments that "other communities have a prejudice against Parsis that they are closer to the United States and Israel, therefore, they are seen as foreigners and not Indians,” as quoted by Sunday Guardian Live (SGL) on September 3, were "totally misrepresented by the reporter of the newspaper.” Describing the report as "baseless,” he reiterated that as chairman of the NCM, it was his duty to keep all notified minority communities, including the Parsis, in utmost peace and harmony. A copy of Rizvi’s statement was emailed to Parsiana by Udvada High Priest and member of the NCM, Dastur Khurshed Dastoor. "Among Parsis, groupism is strong. There are several sects that follow different religious leaders. This leads to conflict within the community,” Rizvi was quoted in the report. "Half of the cases (complaints) registered by the Parsis (are) against Parsis, while the rest are against the majority community,” he told SGL. The news report stated that in 2011-12, "Parsis registered only nine complaints with NCM. In the next year, 10 complaints were registered. In 2013-14, there were 13 complaints, whereas it was 10 in 2014-15. In 2015-16, the number was 11 as recorded by the NCM until March 28. He was commenting on the complaints filed by the community between 2012 and 2016, vis-à-vis the statistics on "communal incidents” collated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that shows an overall downward trend since 2012. The MHA data is being used by NCM to lay out a road map for its communal sensitization programs.
Rizvi, a former general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Minority Morcha, had raised hackles when he recommended in June this year that Indians who cheered for Pakistan’s cricket team should go to Pakistan, "or better still be deported there.”
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