Zoroastrian or Hindu: A Tug of War for A Poor Child

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 1 November 2023 The announcement of an upcoming Navjote ceremony in Nagpur, which will initiate a young boy into the Zoroastrian faith despite having a Hindu father and a Parsi mother, has sparked a heated debate within the Parsi community. Scheduled for November 14, the ceremony has been met with resistance from the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), the apex body representing the Parsi-Zoroastrian community, which has declared that the child will not be recognised as a Parsi. Yet another instance of religious stupidity, though this time from a religion which has always behaved in a sane manner and whose followers have seldom shown unnecessary religious zeal and fervour. But those who've studied this low-profile religion will vouch for the fact that Zoroastrians or Aatish-Parast also suffer from religious and theological exclusivity. Being 4,000-yr-old and the world's first monotheistic faith, the priest-class of Zoroastrianism has a supercilious sense of theological superiority which is equal to religious apartheid. Non-Parsis are not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of an Agiyari/Atashgah or fire temple. German systematic theologian Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) observed that it was the extreme exchatological exclusivity of Zoroastrianism that seeped into three major Abrahamic faiths, viz, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This religion is still very harsh on menstruating women and foolishly justifies why menstruating women are (im)pure to perform religious duties. In a way, it's the forerunner in despising menstruating women in all man-made faiths. Those who're well-versed in the practice of Zoroastrian outer liturgies, are convinced that a religious Zoroastrian is as orthodox as an Orthodox Jew. It's patriarchal as well. If there is a Parsi father and a non-Parsi mother, the child is recognised as a member of the community. Why don't women have the rights? The law should be equal for men and women. Coming back to the issue of whether this child should be called a Zoroastrian or a non-Zoroastrian as he has a Hindu father and a Parsi mother, many community members are also of the view that the community's stringent rules about who can be called a Parsi have exacerbated their demographic woes. The community has the lowest birth rate among all religious groups in India, and rules barring children born to Parsi women married to non-Zoroastrians have contributed to their decline in numbers. Humans, whichever damn religion they may belong to, cannot remain just humans. They need the tag of a stupid faith as a passport to social acceptance. Raise this child as a human sans any faith. Why should his mother's hoary-old Zoroastrianism or father's fossilized Hinduism be imposed on him? Let him have an unfettered existence without any religion and god. Alas, we're not so evolved as to raise our kids as non-religious and godless humans. That needs stupendous moral courage and most of us lack that. Correct me, if I'm wrong. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/zoroastrian-hindu-war-navjote-parsi/d/131021 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism