Reply to the Age On Sunday Mail newspaper
By Ervad Darius. N. Sethna
Ervad Darius. N. Sethna,
C/o C Dorabji & Co. ,
Motlibai Wadia Bldg. ,
22-D, Parsi Bazaar St. ,
Fort , Mumbai - 400 001.
5th April 2003.
The Editor,
Age On Sunday Mail,
D-27, South Extension 2,
New Delhi, 11049.
Dear Sir,
Re:- THE RECENT RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE HIGH PRIESTS OF THE PARSEE ZOROASTRIAN COMMUNITY.
I am most grateful & appreciate the Keen Interest shown by your worthy publication & the MEDIA AT LARGE, regarding this "VITAL RESOLUTION" passed by the Scholarly High Priests of the most ancient Aryan Race & Religion namely ZOROASTRIANISM.
Ironically, this entire Issue is Grossly Misrepresented, deliberately by those Parsees who have married outside their RACE & RELIGION; & mistakably, by the "General Media" due to lack of knowledge & Actual Facts.
In the first instance, you will find that in most Established Religions - Civilized Races - & Cultured Human Communities; "Inter Race & Inter Religious" Marriages are Strongly Opposed & Totally Forbidden.
In the great "Hindu Religion" of our Nation Hindustan even, Inter-Caste Marriages are not acceptable. Perhaps, only in the three "Semitic Religions" such as Judaism, Christianity, & Islam, Inter Religious Marriages may be acceptable, only on condition that the person of another Religion, then their own (Semitic), is First Converted into their respective "Semitic Religion".
The Mazdo Aryan Race & Religion ( Zoroastrianism); & the Indo Aryan Race & Religion ( Hinduism), have no concept of "CONVERSION" what so ever; hence, such Marriages can not be performed & are therefore totally Unacceptable.
If one simply looks at nature, 'No Species' of any kind ever 'Inter-Breeds' with another different to its own, unless of course tempered by Men. One does not need to have a Phd degree in "Quantum Physics", to realize that anything which is "MIXED" at the best gets "DILUTED" from it's "Original Form"; & at the worst gets "ADULTERATED", if not Contaminated.
In the case of this "Resolution Passed by the High Priests of "The Mazdayasni Zarathusthi" Race & Religion; not only Misrepresentation, Misconception, but , "Gross Ignorance" on the part of the "PARSEE ZOROASTRIAN COMMUNITY" is blatantly manifested.
These modern Parsees have very conveniently forgotten that ,only a Few Fortunate, Learned & Privileged Parsee Zoroastrians left their "Fatherland Ayran", for one & only Purpose that is to Preserve & Protect the Purity of their "Race & Religion", & took refuge in Hindustan , our Motherland, some 1300 years ago. If this "Migration" was not important or essential, the Parsees could have easily stayed behind; (like millions of Zoroastrians who neither had the means nor the fortune to escape the enforced Sword of Islam by the Invaders) & become Muslims having Arabs & Turks as their Fathers & Mothers.
"BUNIYAD PASBANI" - the preservation of the "HEREDITARY SEED" (the Origin); Is the Fundamental Ethos, Precept & the Tenet, which is Mandatory to the "PARSEE ZOROASTRIAN RELIGION & FAITH".
The height of Ignorance of this so called Cultured & Learned "Parsee Zoroastrians", is so clearly personified when they pretend that all of a sudden, & out of the blues, their Religious Leaders, Trustees & Custodians of their "Faith", have convocated some kind of a FATWA.
Nothing can be more further away from the Truth, then their "Misconception". Each & every Parsee child, Born to & of "Both Parsee Parents", by the time He or She reaches the age of Five or at the most, the age of Seven,is fully aware of the Religious Requirements & it's Consequence.
All the Wadia's, Petit's, Tata's & the Godrej's were & are fully aware of their "Religious Duties", & the most Illustrious Zoroastrian way of life led by their Forefathers.
Mr. Nash Wadia, ( grandfather of Mr. Nusli Wadia),who gave up his Zoroastrian Religion to become a Christian & marrying a Christian, was not only Excommunicated, but also totally Disowned by his most honourable Wadia Family.
This crucial & "Authorative Resolution" is not something created today by some mortal High Priests of the Zoroastrian Religion, this has been "Believed & Practiced" by the Mazda Aryan Race & Religion for Thousands of Years prior to the "Birth of the very First Prophet on Earth, our most revered & beloved "Prophet Asho Zarathusthra"- 8745 B.C.
Legally; No Constitutional Law of any Land is above the "Religious Laws" of any Religion or Race. Those who choose knowingly to defy, confront, & disregard the Fundamental Rules & Mandate of any Authorised Religion, Institution or any Organisation, are automatically expelled from its "Membership". It is & will be extremely unfair to make the entire Parsee Zoroastrian Community to pay for the consequences of the "Irreligious Actions" of the few.
With profound respect,
Your's Truly,
Ervad Darius. N. Sethna.
(Ordained Parsee Zoroastrian Priest)