Seems like yesterday that the felicitations for the new BPP Board were on in full swing... Today, the mood is rife with strife and looming litigation The beleaguered Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) is in for more… and yet more… trouble. If President Barack Obama finds that his hair is greying after a mere 44 days in office, he should thank his lucky stars he is nowhere near the BPP! As most would by now probably know, the harried BPP Trustees are losing their hair, their appetite, their sleep and their peace of mind – for no apparent fault.
Earnest and assiduous in the discharge of their duties (for most of the part), and validated by the mandate of the entire community via the first ever general elections, they are being needlessly heckled over the issue of flat allotments. Things have come to such a pass that a so-called dismissal decree has reportedly been issued. Of course, it is being contested.
However, a little perspective would not be out of place. Of the stipulated 104 flat allotments (the current bone of contention), the BPP has long since agreed to a majority of cases. A minority of applicants were found unsuitable and all that the Trustees requested was the time and opportunity to submit them to further scrutiny, so that less deserving people don’t get hustled and muscled through by the maverick masterminds of unnecessary dissent.
Debate and discourse are the fundamental fulcrums of any democracy. But to warp them into disruptive and disgraceful politicking, driven by personal vendetta, does no decent person any credit.
Unfortunately, decency and decorum have been thrown to the winds as the community witnessed a blatant bout of lies being bandied about on a recent television show, which made every simple-hearted, honest-to-goodness Parsi cringe to the core (fortunately much of the community still falls into the category of right-thinking people wanting to do the right thing).
Anybody who was under any illusion that the televised venting of vituperation against the Trustees, with underprivileged Parsis propped up as pawns in the game, did the community any good is definitely delusional.
Let it not be forgotten: There is an elected Panchayat in place right now. And the Trustees have a very fresh stamp of support from the entire community. They are fully capable of executing the tasks they have been entrusted with. If the community did not want them there, they would not be in office. Their functioning cannot endlessly be called to question, nor their decisions berated, bulldozed and bludgeoned by some people who were pummelled at the polls!
Those trying to undermine the present BPP board need to understand and appreciate that the current Trustees are the people’s choice. Period.
They have got to be supported and they will be supported, because this is the Parsi Punchayet – and every Parsi who has cast his or her vote for the sitting Trustees will stand by them unflinchingly and honourably. That is the Parsi ethos. All other ugliness is an aberration.
5 comments:
It goes without saying your very balanced view is much needed in a community where some go for others as if this is the only thing their lives hang on. Unfortunately, this is not a community that listens and no one here would ever be allowed to become "the Voice of the communty." And there has to be some sprinkling of truth from the underdog-those who felt they were passed over for allotment of flats. More investigative journalism so the community knows both sides of the coin.
I will certainly visit your blog more often, but some anti-establishment views may have some truth there as well, we would like to know.
Mr. Dadrawala's shameful behaviour proves how wrong the community in voting for him. He is completely ruled by the AFP Altufaltus who have made it their business to ruin our community. He has completely lost track of his sense of fairness (if there was any in the first place). Do we need to go public with our disagreements? It is just too sad and disgraceful.
Dear Shernaaz,
Kudos to you for another well penned article. Your views are unbiased, well balanced and portrays the picture as it should. The basic difference between ethical journalism such as your and the biased rag-tag news papers such as Jame & BS are that you care to find the truth and report it to the general audience without fear or favour. You stand upright in the discharge of your duties.
Yes it is shameful that the otherwise well balanced and cohesive team of BPP trustees is being disrupted and called to question by one disgruntled and vicious trustee Noshir Dadrewalla whose mentors sits outside of the BPP arena and pull strings. These so-called liberal rags are out to destroy the punchayet and bring down the high office of the BPP. Why, simply because they did not get their way at the last election when the Parsi community gave them a loud and resounding thumbs down and booted them out in droves. The only creep who snuck in using all sorts of deviant tactics was Noshir Dadrewalla whose sole mission is to inject venom into the BPPs office and carry out ruthlessly the orders of those within AFP/AZA/ARZ. He is their stooge in the BPP boardroom and he has to fulfill his masters’ mandate that is to bring down the BPP trustees at all cost.
Noshir's livelihood depends on the thugs that cramp the dark recesses of the AFP/AZA dungeons and he is dependent on them for his every thought word and action. The man is unstable in mind, incoherent in speech and indecisive in action. He is a blot on the Parsi name and along with his allies in AFP, they collectively are a scourge on the good religion of Zarathustra.
People who voted for Noshir the last time were sadly fooled by his dubious past and his deceptive talk of being aloof and independent of the AFP platform from which he contested. I am sure all right thinking Parsees will now see through this heinous man's antics. He is a coward, a fake and above all a dishonest person who has fooled the community at every turn and who deserves the communities’ collective abhorrence and wrath.
Thank you Shernaaz for your article and please keep up the good community service.
Yes, enough Parsis got fooled with Dadrawals's pretensions of uprightness. But the arrogance in his manifesto was apparent and some did see that he is the type who can bite the hand that feeds him if he found it convenient. Now, how do we undo the damage? that is the moot point.
The Condition that demands 100% agreement for every decision of the BPP needs re-assessment. Changed to MAJORITY decision. Else with the likes of Dadrawala abounding in this Kalyug, the other Trustees are in for one long unending source of heart attack.
When other conditions have been amended to keep up with the changing times, why not this one too? Lets get help from our legal experts. I am sure no-one wants the BPP to become defunct. Its not in anyone's interest, including the altufaltus.
Yes Alu, you are quite right. The BPP trustees need to reassess and change any clauses that demand 100%agreement on matters. Simple majority or at best two thirds majority could work instead. Perhaps the BPP will seek some legal advice on this matter. The important thing is to explore how to expel/terminate the truteeship of this miserable character Noshir Dadrewalla from the board room on some grounds. I know he is elected by the public but then most consititutions will have clauses of expulsion/termination of trustees, office bearers, members etc. Once again a legal mind is needed.
Let's hope that the BPP is saved from another bout of terror and that Maneck Engineer another of the AFP stooges is NOT elected to the boardroom.
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