It’s well known the Zoroastrians are like the Jews, you are born into the faith. So, if you aren’t born a Parsi, you can’t become a Zoroastrian and call yourself a Parsi. The Indian Parsis have been told by seven of their high priests, that non-Zoroastrian spouses can’t be considered Parsi.

In an open letter to the community, seven Parsi high priests have condemned both conversion and interfaith marriages. While acknowledging that several issues plague the community—not the least of which is its dwindling population—they have written, “The solution to our current issue does not lie in cutting out the very basis of Zoroastrianism and allowing widespread conversion and mixed marriages thus, diluting our Zoroastrian identity.”

What set off these priests was a speech made by former state advocate-general Darius Khambata at the recently-concluded Iranshah Udvada Utsav. “Every source tells us Zoroastrianism is universal,” he had said at the Utsav. “Anybody can convert to Zoroastrianism.” Now this statement obviously got the orthodox Parsis wagging their heads!

A few days ago, Khambata clarified he wasn’t ‘proposing a policy of mass conversion’. He had simply mentioned this well-established principle of “universality” to strengthen his case for the acceptance of children born to Parsi mothers and non-Parsi fathers into the faith. Note that children born to Parsi fathers may be considered Parsi, but the rule of thumb obviously doesn’t apply in reverse.

He reiterated his stand, “My speech was in the context of Parsi women married outside the faith and their children, and my opinion was that they should be permitted to enter our places of worship if they have been initiated into the faith through a ‘navjote’ ceremony. I do not advocate any policy of conversion.”

But the Utsav, the audience had assumed that Khambata was suggesting that fire temples be thrown open to all converts. Now that he’s made his stance clear, some of the indignation has died down. .

Udvada’s head priest and the organizer of the Utsav, Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor, strongly defended Khambata’s right to express a different point of view.

Dastoor’s stance was applauded by liberals, who saw him as a “beacon of hope” for the community. Many are disappointed that he, too, has signed the letter.

Bombay Parsi Punchayet Chairman Yazdi Desai supported the letter. “It is a strong, no-nonsense message to the community, and is necessary to keep some insane elements in check who want to tinker around with the centuries-old, ethno-religious character of our Parsi-Zoroastrian community.”

But liberal Parsis were upset by the turn of events. “It is a real shame. It is totally retrograde,” said Jehangir Patel, the editor of community magazine Parsiana. “You may be a priest and have orthodox views, but you have to look at the needs of your community—38% are marrying out. How can you ignore this?”

One orthodox Parsi however commented, “ We fully support the High Priests for standing up for the ethnic identity of the ancient Parsi race in India, and for saying no to conversion – this is a thing that has created religious wars and a lot of unhappiness in the world since the last 2000 years. Traditional Parsis have never believed in conversion. About intermarriage, ask any anthropologist – if a small community living among a billion other people starts to intermarry large scale, it will wipe itself out. True friends of the Parsis, and there are many in India, will never support inter-marriage for this simple logical reason. God Bless India that has protected and nourished our ancient religion for more than a thousand years, and more power to the High Priests.”

  parsi, religion