Two months after a heated community election, the city&rsquo;s Parsi population is witnessing another historic battle as the centuries-old Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) takes on one of the community&rsquo;s oldest newspapers, Jam-e-Jamshed.
<img title="BPP chairman Yezdi Desai (left), former chairman Dinshaw Mehta (centre) and his son Viraf" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jul/Yezdi-Desai.jpg" alt="BPP chairman Yezdi Desai (left), former chairman Dinshaw Mehta (centre) and his son Viraf" /> BPP chairman Yezdi Desai (left), former chairman Dinshaw Mehta (centre) and his son Viraf
In a surprise move last week, the Punchayet boycotted the 184-year-old newspaper on the grounds that it is bringing a &lsquo;bad name to the BPP&rsquo;. At a board meeting convened on June 28 by the BPP, a majority vote was passed by four out of six trustees to not offer any advertisements, public notices, or news to Jam-e.
&ldquo;The paper has been writing against the BPP and its trustees, which is why we have decided not to make any more announcements in that publication,&rdquo; said Yezdi Desai, chairman of the BPP, adding, &ldquo;They have also been charging us for community-related news that we want to publish, which other papers like Parsi Times let us publish for free.&rdquo;
Desai further alleged that Jam-e was carrying news and paid advertisements against them under the influence of previous BPP chairman, Dinshaw Mehta. He came down hard on Jame-e editor Shernaaz Engineer, saying, &ldquo;She is in no way helping us. She only publishes letters from people who have an axe to grind with BPP.&rdquo;
He added, &ldquo;Jame-e should behave in a manner that is as respectable as its heritage; it cannot allow its pages to be used by people who are willing to pay and write whatever they want.&rdquo;
However, there are counter-allegations that the Punchayet has declared this &lsquo;ban&rsquo; on Jam-e for ulterior motives. One allegation is that the BPP is merely doing this because one of the trustees, Kersi Randeria, owns the rival paper, Parsi Times (see &lsquo;Editor says&rsquo;). Another theory is that this battle is an extension of the battle between trustees during the April election (see &lsquo;Election fallout?&rsquo;).

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Parsi Punchayet declares a boycott on one of the oldest community newspapers for negative stories but others allege ulterior motives

Is business or politics behind clash between BPP and Parsi paper?

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Home / Mumbai / Mumbai News / Article / Is business or politics behind clash between BPP and Parsi paper?

Is business or politics behind clash between BPP and Parsi paper?

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