In your editorial "Reason and religion” (Parsiana, August 21, 2006) you state that the British built churches to spread Christianity in India. The fact of the matter is that the protestant British were only interested in spreading English in India and to that end they invited Portuguese and Spanish missionaries to start English medium schools and colleges. However, the Roman Catholic missionaries took advantage of this opportunity to spread Christianity.
You cite the example of the Reverend John Wilson converting two Parsis to Christianity. In another glaring incident sometime in the 1940s, the Mother Superior in Sophia College converted two Parsi girls to Christianity. The Bombay University took the matter to court, but strangely, the then Chief Justice Chagla let the Mother Superior off scot-free though it was not her business to indulge in proselytizing activities in academic institutions. According to my information one of these two girls emigrated to Australia whereas the other took up the teaching profession in the same college.
You seem to believe that the fall in Parsi population in Bombay from 70,065 in 1940 to 43,241 in 2001 is only due to decline in fertility rate and family planning. You make no mention about the fall in population due to emigration of boys and girls in the procreating age group which, according to me, is the crucial factor causing the drop in the Parsi population from 1950 onwards.
Dr P. D. SUNAVALA