I was both surprised and disappointed by "Empowering and Disempowering” (Parsiana, December 7, 2018) which brings up events that occurred over a year ago and therefore are a closed chapter for us.
Parzor has since the time of its inception by Lt Gen Adi Sethna worked in peaceful collaboration with the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), WZO (World Zoroastrian Organisation) Trust, the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India and all other community organizations in India and abroad. We continue to work in the same impartial manner towards the benefit of the Parsi Zoroastrian community.
Your article makes use of internal correspondence exchanged between individuals and groups from emails that were not intended for publication. We are unaware and not concerned as to your source of these "quotes,” but are disappointed that Parsiana published this matter without the courtesy of verifying the details with us or taking permission for their printing.
This article places Parzor in the heart of partisan community politics. We have always striven to rise above the internal political issues of the community and maintained complete neutrality. We do so in order to be in a position to safeguard the true interests of Parsi Zoroastrians, which include medical and demographic issues, cultural preservation, youth empowerment and the protection of heritage.
The statements you have attributed to me, WZO Trust chairman Dinshaw Tamboly and BPP chairman Yazdi Desai have been taken out of context from internal correspondence and therefore should not be given credence by a discerning public.
We have always held Parsiana in high esteem. We request that Parzor be kept away from political and controversial issues of the community. We trust that you will respect our request in the future. We will not entertain or respond to any further correspondence about this issue because, as stated in the beginning, for us, this was already a closed chapter a year ago. Dr SHERNAZ CAMA
Director, UNESCO Parzor
shernazcama@hotmail.com
The editors reply
We felt the readers had a right to know why the Empowering Mobeds body was formed while the Jiyo Mobed scheme was still in existence.