Derecognise kids of non-Parsi fathers: Community opinion poll

Children of Parsi-Zoroastrian women married to people of other ethnic groups should not be considered members of the community, said a majority of 500 Parsis in an opinion poll.
The poll had been commissioned ahead of the World Zoroastrian Congress, to be held on December 27 in Mumbai.
In the poll done by news weekly Parsiana, the majority said that “Parsi women should not be permitted to become mobeds (priests)”.
Parsiana had commissioned the survey to assess the community’s opinions on several important issues such as religion, the disposal of the dead, inter-faith marriages and the working of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, their largest representative body.
Parisana editor Jehangir Patel said the survey, conducted as part of the magazine’s 50th anniversary celebrations, was the first-of-its-kind opinion poll on important community matters.
The survey revealed many still endorsed traditional values, but there were also signs that others wanted reforms.
The issue of considering children of inter-faith marriages wherein a Parsi woman marries outside the community has been debated for long, particularly in the light of the community’s falling numbers.
When it came to preferences over the disposal of the dead, 67% opted for the traditional practice of putting bodies in the Tower of Silence while 28% opted for cremation, which again, showed an increasing shift in thought.
On a positive note, 66% said a Parsi woman who was married under the Special Marriage Act be allowed to enter fire temples while 91% felt that the woman’s body be allowed a traditional funeral.
-
Mohali RPG attack: Punjab Police zero in on two gangsters from Haryana, UP
Punjab Police have identified two criminals from outside the state for the rocket-propelled grenade attack on the intelligence headquarters in Mohali on May 9. Also read: an analysis of the leads on corruption charges According to senior officials probing the case, Punjab CM sacks health minister Dr Vijay Singla shows the two accused are gangsters and one of them belongs to Jhajjar district in Haryana, while the other is from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh.
-
After CM sacks him, Punjab health minister Dr Vijay Singla arrested for corruption
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday sacked health minister Dr Vijay Singla from the state cabinet on charges of corruption. Mann said he had received a formal complaint that the minister was indulging in corruption practices. “I am taking strict action against the minister. I am removing him from the cabinet,” he said, adding when confronted, Dr Singla confessed to the wrongdoing. A dentist, Dr Singla, is the AAP MLA from Mansa.
-
Karnataka: Road accident in Hubli kills 7, injures 26
As many as seven people were killed and 26 injured in a collision between a passenger bus and a lorry on the outskirts of Hubli city in Karnataka, police said on Tuesday. According to police, a private bus was going from Kolhapur to Bengaluru when it collided with a lorry going to Dharwad. This happened a little after midnight as the bus was trying to overtake a tractor.
-
Court refuses bail to Sachin Vaze, calls him highly influential
A special court last week rejected dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze's bail in the money laundering case against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. Special judge Rahul Rokade referred to Vaze's statement to the Enforcement Directorate probing the money laundering allegations, saying Deshmukh allegedly gave him a list of 1,750 bars and restaurants and asked him to collect ₹3,00,000 from each for allowing them to operate beyond restricted time and occupancy in the pandemic situation.
-
Beggar buys ₹90,000 bike after wife complains of backache, spends life savings
In a heartwarming incident, Santosh Kumar Sahu - a beggar from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh - bought a moped for his wife Munni. The bike is worth ₹90,000. Santosh told news agency ANI he got the bike because his wife complained about a backache from sitting on the tricycle he owned earlier. "Now we can now go to Seoni, Itarsi, Bhopal, Indore," he told news agency ANI.