Growing up in an age before social media one was only vaguely aware of the sense of parochialism that runs deep within our community. Whether it was our pride in reportedly being the "oldest” faith with the first prophet (a most curious subject for conceit) or our famed business houses in whose reflected glory the entire fraternity loves to bask, one was never allowed to forget how special we are to be born in this faith.
The jingoism was limited to a few senior citizens who would love to tell stories underlining just what a blue-blooded race we have always been. Back then, to withstand the occasional onslaught of "Parsis are the best,” a perfunctory nod and some polite "hmm” at the right intervals would be more than adequate.
However, after the explosion of social media our provincial nature emphatically found its groove. From videos of the gahanbar at Mount Demavand to 22 reasons detailing why Shah Behram Varzavand’s arrival is now absolutely imminent, every "forward” has become fair game. Parsis also love to share with obvious glee any message that demonizes the Muslim community. In venerable and educated Zoroastrians who should have known better the Bharatiya Janata Party’s information technology cell has found the perfect conduit to disseminate its hate agendas. From akhand (whole, undivided) Bharat to akhand Iran must be a smooth leap indeed.
We love to portray ourselves as being law-abiding, compassionate and idealistic, but the nation’s larger challenges with regard to human rights do not bother us in the least. At the high noon of the Citizen Amendment Act — National Register of Citizens (CAA-NRC) movement which targeted the citizenship of certain minorities, Parsis were unthinkingly forwarding homilies manufactured by the ruling party and in turn innocently asking what’s wrong with those laws.
Let’s not forget that the mindset of the community can also be gauged by what it studiously ignores on social media. Be it Shaheen Baug (when residents of a working class Muslim neighborhood in South Delhi staged a peaceful 100-day protest against the CAA-NRC and were subjected to police brutality), the Farmers’ movement (where thousands of farmers resisted the government’s laws denying them a fair price for their crops, and around 750 farmers reportedly died) or the outrageous arrests of students and activists on the Bhima Koregaon agitation in Maharashtra (following violence resulting in the death of a student at a rally to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon), the gravest headlines of the day clearly make no impression upon us. Gone are the days of men of substance like Nani Palkhivala, Feroze Gandhi and Minoo Masani who could emphatically speak the truth to those in power. In sum, the claim that we were, or are, any better than our sister communities because we have better levels of education, intellect or empathy has gone flying right out of the proverbial logic window. And we only have WhatsApp to thank for this grand revelation.
VISTASP SAM HODIWALA
Thane
vistasphodiwala@gmail.com