The plaintive statement, "The Zoroastrians of Pakistan are not a declining community, we are a dying community,” made by Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund chairman Dinshaw Avari at the Global Working Group meeting at the Banaji Atash Behram Hall on January 8, 2024 reflects the grim reality of what is happening to the global Zoroastrian community. In the next 10 to 20 years in Pakistan "we may be down to a couple of hundreds,” guesstimated Avari who had joined the meet on Zoom (see "Bonds of benevolence,” Parsiana, February 21-March 6, 2024). The decline in community numbers has resulted in "empty apartments and houses.” Nearly 39% of their population is over 65 years of age. More than 50 families are waiting for approval by the Canadian government on a new migration scheme.
Avari’s offer to send books from the Anjuman’s Dastur Dr Dhalla Library to Zoroastrian associations overseas was another indication that the community’s long-term continuation in Pakistan is doubtful. With probably less than 900 Parsis left in the country, Avari has reason for pessimism. Whether Parsi existence in the Indian subcontinent will continue is no longer a conjecture. It is only a matter of time.
Already the Calcutta anjuman is trying to dispose of unused property. Flats in Poona are lying vacant, both for lack of demand/deserving applicants and the absence of a board of Panchayat trustees. Unoccupied flats are a financial burden for any trust. The apartments and the buildings have to be maintained, taxes paid, security arranged. The Mhow anjuman has already disposed of three properties not required by them. Only the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) keeps optimistically talking of implementing new housing projects in an effort not to house the disadvantaged but to augment the trust’s depleted coffers. Trying to supplement revenue through this route without first ascertaining ground realities can prove disastrous.
Even for commercial premises that can be leased to Parsis and non-Parsis, trusts are finding it hard to find bona fide lessees/hirers. Potential users are comparing the facilities offered, location, accessibility, pricing, terms and conditions, amongst other things. If found unfavorable, the premises remain vacant. As a fundraising brochure from the Parsi Panchayat Charitable Fund, Vadodara (Baroda) notes, where once they had 100 bookings annually for their Godrej Hall the number is down to 25, "despite its excellent location…Over the years, other than routine maintenance, no major renovation has been undertaken.” The infrastructure and facilities "are not up to standard…top class halls have mushroomed all over the city.” Depleting income means funds are not available for those requiring "advanced medical care or suffering from a serious illness.”
With The Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) meeting physically after four to five years and not once virtually, the community remains in the dark as to what is happening elsewhere in India. What are the demographics? How long will the local community survive? Will the properties be safeguarded, encroached upon, forfeited or forgotten?
People often question the purpose of local, national/global bodies holding periodic meetings, labeling them "talk shops” and a waste of precious community resources. But these meetings provide an insight into what is happening to the community in other parts of the country and overseas.
Instead of viewing national and international community bodies as a threat to traditionalism or Parsipanu, one should view them as depositories of information and affordable think tanks. While individual anjumans or associations may opt for whatever practices they want, they can still draw from the collective experience and wisdom of the diaspora.
One of the initial objectives of the 44-year-old World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO) was to assist our brethren in Iran post the Islamic revolution to move to more hospitable climes (subsequently the UK based body shifted its focus to assisting the disadvantaged Parsis in rural Gujarat, a task now being largely undertaken by the WZO Trust Funds in India).
It was the Iranian Zoroastrians who financially bankrolled/assisted several fledgling Zoroastrian associations in North America to acquire, maintain and upgrade their houses of worship (dar-e-mehers). Today it is the Hong Kong anjuman that funds/subsidizes many of the Indian and overseas associations’ physical assets and social welfare programs. The linkage functions to assist the less fortunate without touching upon anyone’s religious beliefs, customs and traditions. If anything, those values are reinforced.
We should no longer view the community in geographic isolation. If we are to survive in any shape, size or form, it will have to be as one global body. No individual trust or institution can dominate. Consensus is the key word. When the BPP interfered in the functioning of the Calcutta anjuman it violated a fundamental principle of the FPZAI. Their bullying attitude, amongst other factors, reduced the all-India body to a rump comprising mainly Bombay and some Gujarat anjumans.
Rather than deepen the divide between traditionalists and liberals, our energies may be more constructively directed to finding common ground to work together. Neither the North American Zoroastrians nor the ones in Russia are interested in migrating to India to live in our colonies, frequent our fire temples or have their bodies consigned to the dakhmas. (On the contrary, more Parsis migrate overseas while hardly anyone returns.) Anyway, many of these institutions lie forlorn and often vacant. Our graveyards for the most part are forgotten. Dakhmas in smaller towns have disappeared or lie unused. Still, we squabble over who can enter a fire temple, which mode of disposal of the dead must be observed, who we should marry or how the seams of a sudreh should be sewn (to ensure the undergarment remains a potent, spiritual, moral armor).
As Jamshedi Navroz and the spring season approaches, this may be an opportune time for the community to reassess their priorities and prejudices. We still have many assets that, if judiciously dealt with, could turn around our fortunes. We still have capable and dedicated people who are prepared to utilize their services for the betterment of the community. Our demographic outlook is bleak but there is still much we can achieve. While there is life, there is hope.