The most important need of the community today is unity. There is no reason why we cannot establish peace in the community if we give greater importance to the virtues of tolerance and adjustment, love and compassion, sacrifice and service and above all a free will and choice to practice religion. If we implement these virtues in our daily life, the divide between the reformists and the orthodox will be cemented, binding the community in a bond of love and friendship.
Nothing worries us more than infighting on the most trivial issue of disposal of dead bodies which can be easily sorted out. The material body we cherished in life is, after death, nothing but a waste mass to be disposed of with dignity and in a manner that is not a hazard to the environment and the neighborhood. Traditional prayers and rituals may or may not help the soul, but they greatly console the relatives in their hour of grief.
As an educated and progressive community, we have minds of our own and cannot compromise on our principles. I fail to understand how denial of prayers helps to strengthen the pillars of religion which have their foundation on devotion, love and service. Do they cease to be members of our community only because their lifeless bodies are disposed in a way other than dakhmenashini?
If cremation is considered as polluting the holy fire, burial has always been accepted as a second choice. Fortunately we have vast lands at our disposal at Doongerwadi to establish an aramgah that can function simultaneously with the dakhmas. The demand for cremation will be diminished and all community members will give a dignified farewell to their dear ones with traditional prayers and ceremonies from the serene, peaceful, hill garden.
It is not proper that to end hostilities our tiny community be divided into factions with separate agiaries and different places for disposal of dead bodies. Peace can be achieved by accepting and respecting others’ views. Let us follow the principle of "live and let live,” rather than interfere with how others practise religion in their personal life. The way we are treating the issue is like amputating a hand to get rid of a tiny sore on the finger that can be easily healed by applying a lotion.
Let the portals of Doongerwadi be opened for all members of the community to have a traditional dignified farewell with prayers and ceremonies. Would Zarathushtra have ever agreed to the denial of prayers and to treat his devotees with threats of punishment? Religion is that which binds us in love, uplifts our mind and solves our problems in a peaceful way. PIROJA JOKHI
piroja.jokhi@yahoo.com