Individuals, institutions and communities are by and large lethargic when it comes to the common good. It is only when a major development or event takes place that people gear themselves for action.
One such time was in 1980. An Anjuman Committee (AC) election was in the offing the next year and amongst others two individuals felt the need for change: Jamsheed Kanga, then in the Indian Administrative Service and Dadi Engineer, a solicitor with the noted law firm of Crawford Bayley and Company, sparked off a community wide movement, to be later named the Committee for Electoral Rights (CER), educating voters about their privileges.
Till that time the AC elections were the preserve of the few who involved themselves in Parsi politics. The archaic electoral system left most people uninformed and unconcerned about the election of Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustees.
For almost two decades the CER held sway. But with no organizational structure and no mechanism to ensure continuity and with most of its top leaders elected as BPP trustees over the years, the body has been largely relegated to community history.
Seven to eight years prior to the formation of the CER, an Oxford educated chartered accountant, Khojeste Mistree, caught the imagination of a community thirsting for knowledge of its scriptures and history. Young and old packed auditoriums to hear the robust speaker explain in layman’s terms the intricacies of Zoroastrianism. But 30 years later, his strident orthodox teachings and willingness to cite any and every source, no matter how dubious, to bolster his point of view cost him dearly.
Countless other groups have emerged. There was the Committee of United Zoroastrians (CUZ), a group of orthodox elements that bandied together in 1980-81 to counter the CER in the 1981 AC elections. After the election they disbanded and were never heard of again. There was also the Committee of Vigilant Parsis (COVP) that espoused the orthodox cause. It was also a flash in the pan.
In more recent times the group called Disposal of the Dead with Dignity — Action Group spearheaded a move to permit funeral prayers to be recited at the Bombay Doongerwadi bunglis for those opting for burial or cremation. Once the solar concentrators were installed, the move fizzled out.
The Association of Inter-Married Zoroastrians (AIMZ), formed in the aftermath of the controversy following the death of Roxan Shah and the subsequent refusal of the BPP trustees to permit her body to be consigned to the towers of silence, has been inert for most of its existence. It came back in the limelight when one of its members lent a flat for a community prayer hall in conjunction with the Association for Revival of Zoroastrianism (ARZ).
The World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ), formed in the aftermath of the tumultuous meeting of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) in Ahmedabad in December 2004, has no history and little future to talk of. Aside from carrying full page advertorials every fortnight in the Afternoon Despatch & Courier denigrating any and everyone they disagree with, the body appears to have done precious little. Even members complain no meetings are called and no consultations sought on policy matters.
There have been other groups in India and abroad that have surfaced and either continue to function or have died out. The bodies that have survived are those that were institutionalized, democratic and had the support and decision making participation of the local community. Thus punchayets and anjumans continue to exist and in some cases flourish. And the immigrant Zoroastrian communities in the West and elsewhere have set up associations from scratch that not only look to the well-being of the local Zoroastrians but also host national and international congresses. Thus community associations, if correctly constructed, can and do<