We write in response to objections raised by some Parsis regarding the navjote ceremony of Dadi Mistry’s grandson Chaitanya Kersi Jaikaria (pictured) in Delhi ("A navjote in Delhi,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, November 21, 2016). These objections arose because Mistry’s daughter is married to a non-Parsi. Parsis accept children born of Parsi fathers married to non-Parsi women but not those of Parsi women married to non-Parsis. This is discrimination.
Our intention is not to disparage individual religious beliefs which are mostly based on early conditioning by parents, teachers and priests. We merely wish to emphasize that in the English translations of the sacred Gathas by various scholars, Zarathushtra states that men and women are created equal and enjoy the same rights. If this is so, how can one object to the navjote of the young man?
Our intention is not to advocate indiscriminate conversion. We merely request that the right given to Parsi men of inducting their children into our faith be extended to Parsi women, provided the non-Parsi spouses have no objection.
Several precedents have been set, including the navjote ceremony of Bombay Dyeing proprietor, the late Neville Wadia performed when he was in his 80s. Wadia was a Christian married to Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Rutty Petit’s daughter. It was argued that this was an exception. Really? Does Ahura Mazda play favorites?
Dastur (Dr) Maneckji Dhalla, in Homage unto Ahura Mazda, writes: "May the breath of Vohu Mana, Good Mind, blow the mists of/ Superstition and credulity that generate orthodoxy, from my mind and illumine it with/ the gleams of the sunshine of needful reform. May He, the premier archangel of/ Ahura Mazda, so guide me that I may not be impervious to the light of the new age./ May he prevent me from blindly holding to the old order of the dead past. May he inspire me to move with the times.”
Let us practice what Prophet Zarathushtra has said and welcome into our community with affection and dignity children born to outmarried Parsi women. Much has been written in on this subject but there has been no change in the mind-set of the majority. We appeal to humdins who see merit in our proposal to help make this change a reality.
HOMI AND ARMAITY BHABHA
homifbhabha@yahoo.com
ERUCH AND ABAN ENGINEER
aban007@hotmail.com
HOMI AND JALOO DALAL
homeedalal@gmail.com
YAZDI AND MAHARUKH KOHIAR
kohiaryazdi@yahoo.com
RASHID AND HUTOSHI KHAMBATTA
rashutosh@yahoo.comThe editors reply:
The custom came into being in 1908 following the High Court judgment by Justices Dinshaw Davar and Frank Beaman in the famous Petit vs Jeejeebhoy case. The justices observed there was a custom of children of Parsi fathers and non-Parsi mothers having their navjotes performed but not of Parsi mothers and non-Parsi fathers. The judgment was never challenged in the Privy Council. No one in the last 108 years has challenged the archaic decision.