145;Quality is much more important than quantity146;

THE Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community in India is not just a minority. It8217;s a minority of minorities. Still, for over 1,000 years, it h...

THE Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community in India is not just a minority. It8217;s a minority of minorities.

Still, for over 1,000 years, it has integrated itself with the Indian mainstream without ever compromising its religious or ethnic identity. We8217;ve produced the first and the best freedom fighters, industrialists, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Our vast contribution to India in every field of human endeavour is disproportionate to our small numbers.

Is this an accident or a coincidence? Or is it due to our religious ethos, our value system based upon our Parsipano?

In my view, preserving the Parsi Irani Zarthoshti quality is much, much more important than quantity. Intermarriages and conversions are not only a religious taboo for us but also a disaster that will dilute and sweep us into oblivion.

Keep before you your Zoroastrian ethics and religious values and I can assure you of great success in whatever you do and wherever you are. I am proud to say that not a single day have I left my house without my prayers of Khorshed, Meher and Atash ni Nyaesh. And this has been the key to my success.

On December 19, 2004, at the Ahmedabad meet of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India hosted by the Ahmedabad Parsi Punchayet, an attempt was made by our leadership to join Parsis and Iranis along with converts and neo-Zoroastrians. It failed miserably.

But the attempt made us realise that it was necessary to create a World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis WAPIZ.

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WAPIZ has come into existence to thwart all such attempts on the part of all those banavati fake Zoroastrians who want to disregard our traditions and practices under the guise of misplaced pragmatism.

We will always remain effective, fair and traditional in all the projects we undertake. On the question of religious principles, we shall always remain rock solid.

After all, a lie is a lie, however beautiful it may be. And myth is myth. We must explode the myth on conversion, so subtly introduced in the proposed foreign-based cosmopolitan world body.

They say faith begins when reason ends. But it8217;s a somewhat mistaken belief. In our attempt to follow the path of truth, we will never abandon the faculty of reason. But we shall see to it that our faith is never shaken.

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WAPIZ will usher in a new era of religious and cultural pride among our Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians. For there is a need to work together to preserve our unique religious and ethnic identity in the face of all adversities and challenges.

Areez Khambatta is chairman and MD of Rasna and president of the Ahmedabad Parsi Punchayet