"As the Banaji dakhma has been prepared for the exclusive use of our Covid victims, and we have been given relief by the Supreme Court, there is now no need for a Zoroastrian corpse to be consigned as per government diktat to the crematorium,” stated a letter dated July 5, 2022 signed by Dasturs (Dr) Firoze Kotwal, (Dr) Jamasp JamaspAsa, Khurshed Dastoor, Keki Ravji Meherjirana and Cyrus Dastur, addressed to the trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). "The crematorium is religiously an unacceptable mode of disposal of our dead, especially in places where there are functioning dakhmas... We look forward to your strong support in matters of religion and to uphold our noble faith’s time-tested customs, traditions and ritual practices.
"We withdraw our earlier permission for the four days of prayers to be performed for Covid victims for those who continue to choose to be consigned to the crematorium. As high priests, it is our duty to reinforce and reestablish our long-held religious views that the four days of obsequies should not be performed by our dedicated priests in our religious places of worship when a Parsi Irani Zarthoshti chooses voluntarily to take the cremation route, where the mode of dakhmenashini through khurshed nigerishn is available and practiced as per the tenets of our religion.”
From l: Dasturs (Dr) Firoze Kotwal, Khurshed Dastoor Photo: Jasmine D. Driver,
Cyrus Dastur, (Dr) Jamasp JamaspAsa Photo: Dolly Divecha,
Keki Ravji Meherjirana Photo: Sarosh Daruwalla
The BPP’s chief executive officer Aspi Sarkari’s email of July 20 had noted, "One of the first acts of this newly elected board of trustees was to make available dakhmenashini for those unfortunate Covid-19 victims who hitherto had no option but to get cremated as per government protocol. Towards this end, the Banaji dakhma has been brought into use for the exclusive disposal of Covid-19 corpses.”
The high priests appreciated the "prompt action” taken by the BPP trustees.