Parsis meet to discuss demographic crisis

AFP/Mumbai

The four-day World Zoroastrian Congress, beginning today, brings together followers of one of the world’s oldest religions, many of whom are descended from Persians who fled to India to escape persecution more than 1,000 years ago.

Known as the Parsis, this group went on to become one of India’s wealthiest communities, closely linked to the rise of financial capital Mumbai. Famed members include the industrialist Tata family, the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury, the son of Parsi migrants to Zanzibar, and renowned conductor Zubin Mehta.

But the population of Parsis is quickly diminishing, with members divided over how best to preserve their religion and culture.

“Demographically there’s nothing you can do. It’s going down and down and it’s eventually going to disappear,” said Jehangir Patel, editor of Parsiana, a Mumbai-based magazine for the community.

Zoroastrians believe in one god, Ahura Mazda, and follow the teachings of the ancient Prophet Zoroaster. They worship in fire temples, believing fire to be a symbol of god’s purity.

Scattered across countries including Iran, the US and Britain, their estimated numbers have dropped by more than 10% between 2004 to 2012 to fewer than 112,000 people.

In India, where most Zoroastrians live, the numbers have halved since 1940 to about 61,000.

Every year, Mumbai sees about 850 Parsi deaths and roughly 200 births, with the largely well-educated and well-off group tending to marry late - or not at all - and opting for smaller families, said Patel.

Alarmed by the figures, and despite worries about a boom in the wider population, India’s government is about to launch an IVF scheme for the Parsis, who have earned a reputation for good business sense and honesty.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said gynaecologist Anahita Pandole, who has worked on a similar fertility scheme for Parsis in Mumbai for nearly a decade, and said they often waited until their mid-to-late 30s to have children.

But some believe more drastic action is needed to boost the traditionally closed community - being a Parsi-Zoroastrian is currently inherited only through the male line.

If a Parsi woman marries a non-Zoroastrian, her children are barred from entering Mumbai’s fire temples or the Towers of Silence, where Parsi bodies are laid after death to be consumed by vultures.

“It’s basically politics of apartheid. It’s discrimination on the basis of race and sex,” said Patel.

Traditionalists, however, say the rules are essential to preserve their identity, which combines religion and ethnicity.

The Mumbai Parsi Punchayet, the leading Parsi organisation, is one of Mumbai’s largest landlords with 5,500 apartments offered at subsidised rates exclusively for Parsi-Zoroastrians, discouraging intermarriage.

“We want to increase the number of Parsis and if our community members marry out, in four generations the ethnicity of the community is going to disappear,” said Khojeste Mistree, a Punchayet trustee.

“These are the rules of the religious club and you have to follow them. You have every right to opt out of the club and leave.”

Held every four years, this is the first congress to be held in Mumbai since 1990. Around 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the event at the National Sports Club of India.

The event however was nearly cancelled at one stage due to in-fighting in the Punchayet over funds which are alleged to have gone missing, reflecting the tensions within the community.

“I think people are very disenchanted, very upset with the functioning of the Punchayet,” said Patel.

Benafsha Shroff, a US-born Zoroastrian who moved to Mumbai two years ago, said the younger generation were increasingly indifferent to controversies facing the community, and preferred to use Parsi gatherings for socialising.

The 26-year-old said many were turned off by the “hype” over the falling population - it makes them feel they’re just another number,” she said.