Mumbai mother's 5-year fight for son's Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana membership continues

It has been five years since Sanaya Dalal and her partParsi husband Rishi Kishnani have waged a war against the lsquoorthodoxrsquo Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana over membership for their son In 2021 Dalal moved the Supreme Court after her sonrsquos membership was allegedly rejected over his nonParsi status They now find themselves ensnared in a prolonged series of court datesMy son is almost 10 years old now but the matter is still stuck where it was We are getting automated dates for the case but the case is not being listed said Dadar Parsi Colony DPC resident DalalSanaya and Rishi are raising their son as a Zoroastrian and even had a Navjote ceremony a ritual through which individuals are inducted into the religion for their son with much fanfareIn 2019 we began our ground work and research on the issue Finally in February 2021 we moved the Supreme Court In May 2023 a brief hearing happened after that we are getting automated dates In August dates changed three times thereafter we got a date for September 23 which has now been changed to October 4 But the case has not been listed yet Dalal saidlsquoRules amendedrsquoDalal a former journalist highlighted that in recent times the orthodox Parsis who control the religious and social institutions have lsquoamended the rules and principlesrsquo in response to an uproar in the Parsi community provoked by incidents which were especially despicable and bigoted She also argued that in reality no religious script or tenet of the Zoroastrian religion which justifies discrimination on grounds of race ethnicity parentage or gender and such discrimination is part of the religious faithDalal said I applied for my sonrsquos games membership in January 2019 just a month later they told us that the process has been stopped It was only when we moved court they submitted the real reason for not allowing membership to my child In these five years we sought intervention from the National Human Rights Commission NHRC Charity Commissioner Women and Child Welfare Commission but nobody seems to want to do anything in our case People openly speak on social media using derogatory terms such as soda lemon water bhelpuri children meaning diluted ones These are shameful outdated and immoral views This kind of discrimination has been going on for generations now The Indian judiciary needs to strike down these unconstitutional practicesrdquolsquoAlso gender discriminationrsquoShe added My motherinlaw is a Parsi and my husband is not recognised as a Parsi as his father is a Sindhi Had my fatherinlaw been a Parsi and motherinlaw a non Parsi my husband would have been recognised as Parsi and would have been allowed into communityrun institutions This is also gender discrimination We have not exposed our son to all this he is unaware about the caseRishi a National Content Director of a FM radio channel said Discrimination is encouraged and racism is normalised amid a section of Parsis The Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana is a prime example of discrimination and sexism As a child I have stood outside the fire temple where my friends used to go I have had to stand outside and not pay my last respects to my fatherinlaw after his death I have not been allowed to take part in several games and I have been told that is because my Parsi mother did not marry a Parsi I was 16 and batting while playing cricket with my friends at the Gymkhana when I was asked to leaverdquoParsis speakDalals case sparked controversy within the community pitting conservative members in favour of the rule against progressive members A membersrsquo meeting was convened in September 2019 wherein a proposal to change rules to permit nonParsi spouses as guests all year through was discussed This is a virtual back door entry to nonParsis It is unfair The Parsis will undoubtedly find a means to preserve their heritage and legacy said a member of the community from DPCAnother member said in favour of Dalal ldquoWe are a community which is declining Excommunicating children of women who marry nonParsis is also one of the factors and a major one This is the stage that we need to be more inclusive instead of discriminatingZenobia Unwalla president and trustee of Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana said ldquoThe matter is in the Supreme Court and so it will be inappropriate to comment about itA change in PuneIn 2017 more than 100 reformist Parsis came together to inaugurate a fire temple in Punes Kondhwa called Asha Vahishta Agiary This temple takes a progressive approach by recognizing the legitimacy of children born to Parsis who marry outside the community and by granting access to nonParsi individuals Vispy Wadia founding trustee of Asha Vahishta Agiary and a Mumbaibased businessman explained that the initiative aimed to combat the discrimination faced by intermarried Parsi women and their children within the Parsi communityTop lawyer Fali Nariman former advocate general Darius Khambata and industrialist Anu Aga have contributed as donors to this temple operating under the banner of the Association for Revival of ZoroastrianismWadia who is also the president of the Association of InterMarried Parsis highlighted the genderbased discrimination present in the community He pointed out that when a Parsi woman marries outside the community she and her children are denied entry into the sacred fire temple In contrast when a Parsi man marries outside the community his children are permitted to enter the fire temple Talking to midday Wadia said Asha Vahishta is a universal agiary anybody and everybody can come visit not just intermarried Parsis Anjumans temples nowhere in the world have such restrictions Even in Iran which is the birthplace of our religion there is no such discrimination no restrictions on nonParsis This is only in India We are totally against this gender discrimination Nowhere in our holy scriptures is such discrimination mentionedrdquoHe added This issue has today become a struggle between the socalled purity advocating orthodox group of Parsis and the new generation fearing extinction and a dwindling number of Parsis These orthodox groups are talking about purity there is no such thing It is a myth There was a reason why DNA tests were conducted on Parsis It showed we are closer to Gujaratis than our Iranian ancestors What does this point out