In terms of women’s activities and rights, Yazdegirdi 1379 was a landmark year. Of the Zoroastrian women who graced nine of our 24 covers, three had fought for their most basic rights in the community. Two others were awarded honors for their services to the country in general and the disadvantaged in particular; and one for her pioneering spirit in demolishing gender barriers.
After decades of seeming apathy and even indifference, Parsi women have finally found their voice. And it is loud, clear and demanding. No longer are they content with the morsels of freedom parsimoniously thrown at them. They want equality. Goolrookh Gupta is fighting for her rights to enter a fire temple in Valsad; Roshni Maloo took on the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) and their unsavory supporters to perform her children’s navjotes. In February, Meher Master-Moos arranged for the initiation of a Russian Zoroastrian into the priesthood (she was not on the cover but her protégé Mikhail Chistyakov was). Undeterred by assaults and threats she has now filed a criminal writ petition in the Bombay High Court against the marauding group that she alleges physically disrupted the ceremony in Sanjan. And two sisters, Camille and Zeenia Framroze, started an online petition in support of two priests barred from performing religious ceremonies at Doongerwadi and two agiaries controlled by the BPP.
While support for Gupta and Maloo was not so apparent, the online petition struck a responsive chord in the community. Over 2,400 people signed on till August 10, 2010 to show their backing.
And all these women intend to take their fight to the finish. They are not the shy, demurring types who fret over how “others” will view their actions or be concerned with “getting a bad name,” or be cowed down by threats. And unlike in the past when women have stood up for their rights, these ladies have the full support of their families, Parsi and non-Parsi alike.
A week ago when the Framroze sisters were informed that some of the BPP trustees were allegedly behind a move to persuade the residents of Godrej Baug to sign a petition terming one of the two “renegade” priests residing there as undesirable and asking for his ouster from the colony, they immediately wanted to once again take up cudgels on his behalf.
When one particular nasty and persistent critic bombarded the sisters with derogatory e-mails they responded stating “you are not worth communicating with and your e-mails aren’t worth the 30 seconds it takes to read them. They are going straight to the trash where they belong. You are a disgrace to Zoroastrianism... If you presume to once again defame us… you will be hearing from our lawyer.”
But many of the critical e-mails the sisters received are disturbing because they reflect a total disregard of any societal norms of discourse. It appears the anonymity of the web brings out the worst instincts in people. If one thought the WAPIZ (World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) Page was an all time journalistic low, think again. The web is far worse.
The two spunky youngsters have also put the BPP and their WAPIZ allies on the defensive. BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta now claims the priests were banned because they were converting non-Parsis to Zoroastrianism. In an interview with the Mumbai Mirror of August 4, 2010 Mehta stated: “We have restrained the priests because they have been converting Russians and other people into the Zoroastrian religion.”
The minutes of the BPP dated June 9, 2009 at which the infamous resolution was passed stated clearly, “Trustee Mr Khojeste Mistree informed the Board that recently, Mr Framroze Mirza and Mr Khushroo Madon (note the two are not addressed as “Ervads” which is their due but rather as “Mr” – editors) who perform unreligious ceremonies of children of Parsi girls married to non-Parsi husbands, and perform marriage ceremonies as per Zoroastrian rituals of any one Parsi marrying a non-Parsi spouse were found to be performing paidast (funerary) ceremonies at our Doongerwadi premises.” The latter of course was for those opting for dakhmenashini.
Maja Daruwala who featured on our May 21 cover has fought for the rights of those victimized by the state and the police. In Gujarat she has sided with the victims of the 2002 Godhra pogrom. And Anu Aga spoke out for the disadvantaged as well as criticized the Gujarat government of Narendra Modi for the Godhra carnage. Over 85 years ago the late Mithan Lam paved the way for other women advocates to enter and practice in the profession.
Until Maloo insisted on celebrating her children’s navjote publicly, Parsi women married to non-Parsis held quiet, discreet functions with invitations being extended over the phone rather than by printed cards. Maloo defied that convention. True, she had to hold the actual ceremony at home because of the pressure brought on the ground owners but the reception was still held publicly. Other women can now follow suit and should. Someone voluntarily being initiated into any faith should be a cause of great celebration.
And Gupta, instead of shying away from fire temples as so many interfaith married Parsi women do, stood her ground and moved the Ahmedabad High Court to assert her rights. The matter is pending in the court.
With such an array of women, past and present, there is hope that in the coming year the critical battle for the rights of the children of Parsi women married to non-Parsis to be considered Parsis will be taken up. It would be a tragedy if after battling so courageously against such great odds for so long the next logical step for women and children’s rights is abandoned.