But the imbroglio involved more than just a priest following the dictates of his conscience. He informed Parsiana (see "Rites and rights," pg 18) that following the Hansotia incident the trustees had requested all priests practicing at the 173-year-old consecrated fire temple to endorse a joint declaration that they refrain from performing religious ceremonies for the interfaith married and those who voluntarily opt for cremation. This smacks more of fundamentalism and coercion rather than a decision made according to one’s individual conscience.
Agiary trustees Homi Ranina and Bomi Hansotia, however, clarified to Parsiana that Aibara and the mobeds were "free to do what they feel is right. We never interfere." The trustees’ priority is maintenance of the structure and statutory compliances. Ranina is a founder trustee of the currently moribund, traditionalist body, World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) and a former Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee. In 1990 he reportedly influenced Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal to pronounce interfaith marriage adulterous and the offspring of such unions, illegitimate. Ranina, however, stated his personal views on the religion were not "relevant" in the Karani matter.
Regarding the Bahadur controversy, Kotwal told Parsiana on October 6, 2020 that there are any number of agiaries where one could go for the prayers. In theory, he is correct, but not in practice. Can residents, especially elderly ones, venture several kilometers from Cusrow Baug to reach the nearest fire temple? Or from any geographic area where fire temples are few and far apart? Are taxis easily available, assuming everyone can afford them? What about the dangers of using buses where passengers may be jostled when entering and disembarking and receive nasty jolts when the brakes are abruptly applied as perforce happens in Bombay’s chaotic traffic? And what about exposure to the coronavirus to which the elderly are more susceptible? After spending a lifetime visiting a particular fire temple is it fair to expect a person or family to go elsewhere for the death ceremonies? That too at a time when the family is grieving and would be more comfortable in familiar surroundings? Instead of sympathy they encounter indignity.
Fire temples situated in Parsi colonies have captive clientele. They enjoy a monopoly. They can afford to adopt a cavalier outlook. Elsewhere the picture is grim. Most agiaries have few footfalls and days may pass without a devotee gracing their sacred precincts. Distance, age, infirmity and dwindling numbers reduce the number of agiary-going worshippers.
Referring to the interfaith married, Yazdi states when people "have done something wrong...they should themselves understand" why they should not visit a fire temple or request ceremonies. He thus views marriage out of the faith as "something wrong." In addition to his father’s fatwas, he may also be referring to the Vendidad which exhorted Zoroastrians to marry within the faith. But at that time it was incumbent on the Zoroastrian spouse to convert the non-Zoroastrian husband or wife-to-be to Zoroastrianism. As the Davar-Beaman Petit vs Jeejeebhoy judgment of 1908 notes, Zoroastrianism not only permitted but enjoined conversion. But after settling in India, the Parsis followed a caste system and stopped this practice. As Justice Frank Beaman in his judgment observed when referring to the opposition to conversion, "This is not religion, it has nothing to do with religion: it is essentially distinctly irreligious; but it is pure unadulterated oriental caste."
Caste is another word for racism (Webster’s defines caste as a division of society based on difference of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation or race).
The administrators of the Tradi-tional Zarathushtris Mailing List (TZML) endorsed Yazdi’s stand, stating he had "inspired many other priests and humdins by being firm." Condemning interfaith marriages and the navjote ceremonies for children of such unions being performed, they warned, if the "rules" were not obeyed, "our community… and our religion… will be diluted beyond recognition."
The letter quotes a statement from Yazdi claiming, "Once you marry outside, the tokham or the Zoroastrian genes become impure, and this also compromises the other person’s genes... When we marry outside we impede the progress of our soul...This is not progress when you go against your dharam na kaayda (religious rules)."
One shudders to think what view the traditionalists hold regarding the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) Parsis, and same sex married couples? They would undoubtedly rank much lower than the intermarried.
When asked why the portrait of Neville Wadia — the offspring of an interfaith married couple who in turn was married to a lady also born of an interfaith marriage — hangs in the Agiary hall, Yazdi replied, "Some Cusrow Baug League members" had it put up many years ago. At the annual salgirah function of the fire temple, a two-minute silence is observed in memory of the Wadia family. Neville’s grandmother, Jerbai, and her sons, one of whom was married to a non-Parsi, were responsible for the construction of the five Wadia baugs. Her grandson took, and his son Nusli takes, a keen interest in the welfare of all the Wadia colonies. If Cusrow Baug is considered the "Queen" of the Parsi colonies it is thanks to the Wadia committee that manages and maintains the complex.
The baugs managed by the BPP pall in contrast. The BPP decision making is erratic, depending on the internecine battles among the trustees and the coterie which controls the majority. Nusli, on the other hand, keeps a tight rein on the baugs’ finances and does not permit the profligate BPP trustees to whittle away the reserves. Two minutes of silence is the least the fire temple officials and Baug residents can offer to show their appreciation.
At the February 2018 salgirah function of the Agiary, Ranina lamented that many youngsters loitered outside the Agiary and did not attend the function. "We have to do something to get them in," he said. With 45% of Bombay Parsis marrying out in 2019, and they and their progeny being despised or ridiculed, they are unlikely to enter such fire temples. Why enter a house of worship that considers you a sinner?
Sadly, the Parsi supremacists in India are ringing the death knell of a once universal religion.