HIGH PRIESTS CONDEMN B.P.P.'s Hasty Decision
To,
The Chariman and Trustees, Bombay Parsee Panchayat, Mumbai - 400 001.Respected Akabar Sahebs,
We, the Vada Dasturjis of India, do hereby appeal to your goodselves with a total sense of responsibility, that the system of Dokmenashini and the consignment of our dead bodies to the Towers of Silence (Dokhmas) is the only venerated and prescribed system in our religion.
No dead body of any Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian can be consigned to the Dokhmas unless the pristine system of the Paidast and accompanying prayers is performed. Simultaneously, no Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian dead body upon which such prayers are chanted, may be viewed by any non-Parsi or carried away from the Bunglis and consigned to any other place out of the Doongerwadi Complex other than the Dokhmas.
Dokhmenashini in its pristine glory must be preserved at all costs, no concession or relaxation sought should be allowed, and if such concessions are given, it is totally anti-doctrinal. Our attention has been drawn to some three resolutions passed by a group of people call the Disposal of the Dead with Dignity - Action Group which is a matter of grave consideration and to which your goodselves have reportedly acceded to two out of three, which is totally anti-doctrinal and unacceptable to us.
We, therefore, urge you to reconsider the decision that you have arrived at and refrain from implementing the same, in the larger interest of retaining the glory and tenets of Zoroastrianism and the community in its age-old form. We are confident that you will not let us down and also the thousands of devout Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Firoze M. Kotwal (Mumbai),
Dr. Kaikhushru Dastur Minocher JamaspAsa (Mumbai),
Dr. Hormuzdyar Dastur Kayoji Mirza (Udwada),
Nadirsha Pestonji Unvala (Bangalore),
Kaikobad Dastur Phirozji Dastur (Udwada),
Noshirwan Dastur Manchersha Dastur (Surat),
Sardar Dastur Hormazdiar Noshirwan Kaikobad Dastur (Pune),
Meherji Dastur Kaikobad Meherji Rana (Navsari).