Dr Dolly Dastoor will once again serve as vice chair of the Parliament of the World’s Religions (PWR) whose mission is to promote understanding and cooperation among the world’s religious and spiritual communities by cultivating a spirit of harmony and celebrating their rich diversity and traditions. Former president of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) and editor of the quarterly FEZANA Journal, she has been trustee of the PWR since 2015 and had earlier served as vice chair in 2017-18. For the current term of office of two years that commenced on January 1, 2021, there were three candidates for the post of vice chair with Dastoor winning the election.
Formed in Chicago in 1893, PWR was moribund till it was revived at the time of its centenary. FEZANA founder president Rohinton Rivetna who is trustee emeritus of PWR was instrumental in getting together a group of religious organizations and forming a council in 1993. Since 1993 Parliaments have been convened in Cape Town, Barcelona, Melbourne, Salt Lake City and Toronto that Dastoor has attended.
Top: Dr Dolly Dastoor Photo Jasmine D. Driver;above: Zoroastrian presence
at the 2018 sessions in Toronto
"There has always been a Zarathushti presence both as presenters and participants at each of the Parliaments but more so when they were held in Chicago (on the centenary of the first PWR in 1993) and Toronto in 2018 because of the large demographics of the community but it still takes a lot of persuading to motivate community members to attend,” remarked Dastoor when responding to Parsiana’s queries.
Dastoor recalled the prior one in Salt Lake City in 2015. On the return flight when talking to the chair of the PWR she expressed her disappointment that Zoroastrians were not mentioned in the program. "Much to my surprise a few months later I got a phone call from the nominating committee inviting me to stand for election as a trustee. After a rigorous interview I got elected,” she recalled.
The 26 trustees elected to the PWR board are from 15 diverse religious faiths reflecting a range of demographic populations, gender, age and region. They are eligible for two consecutive three-year terms. To facilitate "governance, fund-raising and friend-raising,” on an average they meet twice a year and their work is done through committees and task forces. Each trustee is expected to give or get a minimum of $ 750 (Rs 55,160) per year to the organization, stated Dastoor.
When Dastoor’s election as vice chair came to the attention of the community, congratulatory messages poured in from different parts of the globe. On the occasion of her 80th birthday on September 15, 2020, her family established the Dolly Dastoor Research Award at the McGill University from where she retired as assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and member of the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging.
"As Zarathushtis we need to focus on social issues facing the community and in the world. We need to make our collective voices heard in interfaith dialogs on sexual and gender-based violence. It is the responsibility of each Zarathushti to step up as a potential champion, a potential savior to the best of our abilities to create a better world for our children to move to bring about frashokereti (Zoroastrian doctrine of final renovation of the universe, when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will be in perfect unity with Ahura Mazda),” stressed Dastoor.