"I send my warmest wishes to everyone celebrating the festival of Nowruz in Britain, Iran and around the world… I wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful new Year. Har ruzetan Nowruz, Nowruzetan piruz (May every day be a Nowruz and may your Nowruz be blessed),” noted a message from British Prime Minister Theresa May that was delivered to the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) by Royal Mail Special Delivery on March 21. It was read out to the assembly that included chief guest A. S. Rajan, minister for coordination at the Indian High Commission, by ZTFE president Malcolm Deboo at the Navroz get-together at the Zoroastrian Centre.
Clockwise from top left: Jamshed and Paridokht Falahati at the Haftsheen table;
Nowruz children’s party at the Zoroastrian Centre in Harrow; representatives of ZTFE and Tatas
at the Zoroastrian cemetery in Brookwood pay respect at Jamsetji Tata’s mausoleum
On March 12, the ZTFE Fun Club Class had organized a Navroz party that was attended by nearly 70 children, with their parents, and teenagers. "From the story of Jamsheed, learning about the significance of Navroz and the Haftsheen table to egg painting, party games and gifts from our very own Amu Nowruz (also known as Papa Nowruz or Bābā Nowruz, he is a fictional figure in Iranian folklore who passes the old story of Nowruz to the youth), a lovely time was enjoyed by all,” notes an email report from the Young Zoroastrians (YZ) team. For the teenagers, a discussion on topics related to Zoroastrianism and the Zoroastrian life was organized.
"From making children feel a sense of pride about being a Zoroastrian to establishing life-long friendships and bonds within the community,” the importance of the Fun Club was stressed by the YZ team, appreciating the efforts of Kerman Jasavala, Cyrus Kapadia, Yazad Kapadia and Roshan Avari to organize the activity.
On March 4, representatives of various Tata companies in the UK gathered at the mausoleum of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata at the Zoroastrian cemetery in Brookwood, near London to participate in the annual prayers organized by ZTFE. Joining in the homage was Farrokh Kavarana, former director of Tata Sons who attended as the Tata representative from India. In the prayers recited by Ervad Yazad Bhada, the fravashis of Jamsetji, Dorabji, Jehangir (JRD), Naval and other members of the Tata family were remembered on behalf of (farmayish) Ratan Tata, notes a write-up by ZTFE trustee Rusi Dalal. This event is held "to perpetuate the vision of Jamsetji with his thrust on the Zoroastrian principles of righteousness and charity,” writes Dalal.
While the UK is currently in the process of withdrawing from the European Union following the 2016 referendum vote to leave, some long-time Zoroastrian residents in the UK like Bahram Bekhradnia, president, Higher Education Policy Institute, are concerned with the "legitimization of aggressive, anti-immigrant behavior sometimes amounting to physical attacks.” He took the initiative to launch a petition that called on Parliament to create a Select Committee to investigate such violence. In the absence of the petition attracting 100,000 signatures, the issue was not debated in Parliament. Nevertheless Bekhradnia was gratified to learn that the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) chose to study this disturbing trend.
When requested by Parsiana to share his experience, Bekhradnia had written in December 2016, "I myself witnessed a tattooed thug abusing a South Asian passenger on a train. I told him to stop and was told to ‘go back where you came from.’ I am not particularly dark and could easily pass for a southern European; and this is the first form of any sort of racial abuse I have encountered in nearly 50 years (I was told in 1969 to ‘go back to Pakistan’!). And shortly after that I learned of a Polish builder employed by some friends who had his car torched the previous day; his father had been physically attacked the week before.”
Concerned that the "politicians have not been as loud and decisive in their condemnation as they should and the popular Press has played a disgraceful part in fanning the flames,” Bekhradnia hopes the trend will reverse for "I do not believe that the English are particularly racist or anti-immigrant, and it is encouraging that senior Parliamentarians like Lord Karan Bilimoria, and now the HASC are taking a lead.”
"The greatest issue arising from the European Union referendum is the uncertainty that it is causing in every aspect of our lives,” remarked Bilimoria when commenting on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill on March 1, 2017. Stating that international students at British universities contribute up to £14 billion to their economy, he regretted, "Cambridge University has just announced a 14% drop in students applying from the European Union. I declare my interests as a chancellor of the University of Birmingham and as chair of the advisory board of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. I am also president of the UK Council for International Student Affairs that represents 450,000 international students in this country, of whom 180,000 are from the European Union.
"This is not just about the money; it is about what these students contribute to our universities. They enrich the experience of our domestic students and they build lifelong bridges between our country and their countries around the European Union, with friendships that last for generations. Our international students and universities are one of the strongest elements of soft power that exists in this country. It is not only the students but also the academics at our universities, up to 20% of whom are from the European Union,” expressed Bilimoria.