“Out with draconian laws”
For this, it is imperative to turn back the pages of history. A devastating fire ravaged Surat in 1837, making the lives of its citizens miserable. The benevolent Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (Sir J. J.), First Baronet, raised funds from the "Mahajans” of Bombay to alleviate the distress of the citizens of Surat. After their rehabilitation was accomplished, Rs 90,000 remained, which was pro rata divided between the Parsis and Hindus, according to their contribution. A sum of Rs 50,000 was thus set aside for the welfare of Parsis, under the constitution of Parsi Surat Charity Funds (PSCF), 1841, headed by the First Baronet and assisted by six trustees residing in Bombay while having links with Surat. These trustees appointed nine local individuals of repute to carry on the welfare work for the people of Surat, using the interest from the sum left over with the PSCF, leading to the establishment of the SPP.
In addition to the financial aid given under various schemes as mentioned in Antia’s reply, the SPP also spends around Rs 48 lakhs annually to provide monthly financial help on roz Behram to 161 needy families in and around Surat and 187 families of Navsari, Valsad and Bombay; the villages of Mandvi, Vyara, Dang, Mahuva, and other towns/cities of the country. The SPP also distributes food grains worth approximately eight lakh rupees each year at the time of Parsi New Year to 325 families in and around Surat and 252 families of Vansda, Dang, Mandvi, Vyara, Mahuva, etc.
Surat Parsi Panchayat building
The SPP provides education without charging any fees to Parsi students studying in five schools managed by us. A total of 109 students avail of free education: 60 Parsi students, the children of staff members as also some under the Right to Education, which costs the SPP approximately Rs 10 to 11 lakhs annually.
The Panchayat-run Nariman Home and Infirmary has at present 30 aged inmates who are provided free lodging and boarding, including all meals. They also receive free medical treatment, including hospitalization. On religious occasions they are taken to the atash behrams and agiaries in Navsari and Udvada. They have use of a physiotherapy center with a full-time physiotherapist. All these services are free. Approximately Rs 85 to 90 lakhs are thus spent per year.
In your piece about retired Supreme Court Justice Rohinton Nariman, he urged that the sedition law, passed by the then British Government to suppress the freedom movement by the Indians, be abolished. This is a sensitive topic and Ilavia is wrongly comparing the appointment scheme of SPP trustees by the PSCF in Bombay with the laws of sedition. The trust deed of January 1, 1841 of the PSCF regarding appointment and removal of trustees of the SPP has nothing to do with sedition and hence any such comparison is unwarranted.
As noted by Antia, the SPP trustees are appointed by the PSCF as per recommendations made by the Surat trustees in accordance with the trust deed. The PSCF has the authority to appoint/dismiss any SPP trustee only after recommendation by the sitting SPP trustees in Surat. It has neither interfered in any administrative functions of the SPP nor has it ever taken income from the SPP to Bombay, as wrongly and repeatedly alleged by Ilavia.
Ilavia, a beneficiary residing in a charitable block of SPP, is twisting facts and spewing venom against the trustees of both SPP and PSCF. On his WhatsApp group he rants that Sir J. J. and his colleagues at PSCF are no longer welcome in Surat and threatens that if they go there they will be manhandled or roughed up. Despite these hollow threats, Sir J. J. and his colleagues have visited Surat many times and are welcomed by the Parsi community.
Unfortunately, there are certain persons in the community who are obstructionists trying to prevent any good work being done by individuals or trusts. The people in general have now understood their game.
The SPP has always upheld religious principles and traditions. A recent example is the matter where dakhmenashini was denied to unfortunate Parsi victims of Covid due to the Goverment of India’s guidelines. The SPP had the courage to fight the case first in the Gujarat High Court and thereafter in the Supreme Court, ultimately succeeding in the matter. It is a matter of regret that no other trust joined SPP in this litigation. Had the SPP adopted adult franchise for the election of trustees, we may not have been able to move the Court.
JAMSHED P. DOTIVALA, Dr HOMI D.
DOODHWALA, YAZDI N. KARANJIA,
MALCOM T. PANDOL, KESHMIRA M. DORDI, Dr RUSTOM D. MORENA
Board of Trustees, Surat Parsi Panchayat
sppanchayat@gmail.com
Out with draconian laws” In continuation with details given by the Trustees appointed lifetime at Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Fund (Reader’s Forum, Parsiana February 21, 2022) on my letter “We Surat's Parsi community need support from all the citizens of democratic India to remove "colonial mindset” in Surat's Parsi Panchayat and Properties Funds and request them to help in preserving our democratic rights to elect our Trustees at Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Funds as described in an historic judgment of Honourable Bombay High Court issued in the year 1908.” my reply is as under. As mentioned in Parsiana a sum of Rs.50000/- was set aside for the welfare of Parsis, under the Constitution of Parsi Surat Charity Funds in 1841 headed by Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy and 6 trustees residing in Bombay while having links with Surat. Hence PSCF Trustees are having absolute right to look after this fund at Surat Parsi Panchayat. No one from Surat’s Parsi community had given them right to govern SPP and its associated institutes registered at Surat under Gujarat Public Trusts Funds Act. In the latter half of the 1600s, Bombay had still not reached prominence it held in later years. At that period in history Surat was the chief trading port of Gujarat. The size of the Zoroastrian population of Surat at its peak in the beginning of the 19th century and it can be judged by the stated population of “20000 Zoroastrian families in Surat only.” (Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 18 by James Hastings quoting Forbes) Surat Parsi Panchayat was “not at all” established from the funds of PSCF in 1841. Nanabhai Punjibhai was a community leader, a davar (meaning bearer of justice) i.e. President of the Surat Parsi Panchayat and Properties Funds in the year 1600. One of his many services to the community for which he is remembered, was the building of a dakhma, a tower of silence in Surat. Nanabhai passed away in 1667. Hence SPP and PSCF Trustees should stop fooling entire Parsi community that SPP was established on 1-1-1841. It is information technology era and all the Parsis are learned people since centuries. SPP and PSCF Trustees have described all the good works they are doing in Surat Parsi Panchayat in their replies. But some matters they have skipped or ignored to mention in Parsiana which I describe here and request them to reply truthfully in next edition of Parsiana magazine without any prejudice. (1) Where were all the SPP and PSCF Trustees when Surat’s poor Parsis were dying in absence of hospital beds during COVID-19 pandemic? (2) Why they had denied Surat’s Parsi patients to admit them or to isolate them in Surat Parsi General Hospital (absolutely vacant hospital having RMO and nursing staff on payroll) during COVID-19 pandemic? (3) What are their games behind illegal encroachment on Surat’s Parsi Trust lands worth Rs.280 crores by antisocial elements from our own community and others too? (4) What are the hidden reasons to keep idle our Trust lands at Surat for decades allowing antisocial elements to make it nuisance spots or illegal encroachment on it? (5) What are their games not to arrange a single General Body Meeting of Surat’s entire Parsi Anjuman during last 30 years? I would like to mention here the recent observation came in a judgement concerning the sanction for disposal of the property of trust, Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman, Mhow. Honourable Supreme Court of India in its judgement Dt.28- 01-2022 observed that any organization which is self-governed cannot be subjected to overarching state control if its decisions are well informed and the interest of the trust are those defined by its members. But the judgement from honourable Supreme Court of India Dt.28- 01-2022 made it clear that the Public Control of religious endowments is essential to prevent the “diversion
of their assets accumulated through public donation and gifts. Hence, I request all the SPP and PSCF Trustees to clarify why the decisions like selling of trust properties or lands or making long term lease/rent agreements for it or any other policy making decisions were / are being taken without following general norms like placing it before a General Body Meeting of all members of the trust. i.e., Surat’s entire Parsi community members by them? We Surat’s Parsi community members would like to know “Whether SPP and PSCF Trustees are authorised with powers higher than honorable Supreme Court of India?” SPP and PSCF Trustees may answer all the above queries of Surat’s Parsi community in Surat’s Samast Parsi Anjuman General Body Meeting. We Surat’s Parsi community members are well eager to hear the scheduled date, time and venue for it.