Military farewell

Sq Ldr Parvez Jamasji (Retd), 77, who died on June 26, 2020, was given a funeral with military honors at Doongerwadi. Awarded the Vir Chakra in 1972 for gallantry during the Bangladesh Liberation War, the veteran succumbed in Sanjivini Hospital, Dadar, a couple of weeks after "a tumor was detected and he was operated on,” Cmde Aspi Marker (Retd) informed Parsiana in a WhatsApp (WA) message.
Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Noshir Dadrawala, in another WA message stated "the Doongerwadi staff asked me if the national flag could be placed over the gehan of our national hero Sq Ldr Jamasji. I told them only after all the prayers are done the national flag may be draped over the gehan when the body is carried on its last journey from the bungli till the final point where the family pays last respects… The flag should then be carefully taken away and folded with respect and the body be taken to the towers. The flag should be washed and handed over to the family… It all went beautifully… Our veteran got a hero’s farewell, the family felt comforted and the BPP did what was the right thing to do.”

During action in the 1971 Bangladesh War, Jamasji had flown hundreds of sorties and received a bullet wound in the leg, for which he received the national award. The Maharashtra government too recognized his valor with a Gaurav Puraskar. Jamasji had joined the Indian Air Force in 1965 and retired in 1985. In 2012 the Dadar Parsi Colony resident was upset when asked to "return Rs 2,245 to the government” given as a special allowance to gallantry award winners, in addition to their pension. The government claimed that he, along with some other officers, had been overpaid their allowance. A receipt for the sum sent by the war hero to the Benevolent Fund of the Department of Sainik Welfare in Poona dated July 5, 2012 acknowledges that Jamasji had repaid the excess amount received by him, reported Parsiana (see "Overpaid or underrated?” Events and Personalities, November 21, 2012). As per the rules, war veterans who have crossed the age of 65 are entitled to only 50 percent of this special allowance. At that time Jamasji, who was using crutches following surgeries for spinal injuries caused by a helicopter crash and a subsequent road accident, had told Parsiana that he had been collecting this pittance for the past decade only because "if I don’t take it, someone may misuse it” and not because he needed the money.
Jamasji is survived by his wife Zarin, daughter Anahita Fitter and sons Peshotan and Rustom.