A member of the Parsi community who had given a letter to the police station that the walk not happen was on Saturday night given a notice under section 149 of the Crpc that looks to prohibit one from committing any cognizable offence
The educative heritage walk that was scheduled for Sunday morning at the Doongerwadi or Tower of Silence where the Parsis lay their dead was completed amidst protest from some members of the community and police protection.
A member of the Parsi community who had given a letter to the police station that the walk not happen was on Saturday night given a notice under section 149 of the Crpc that looks to prohibit one from committing any cognizable offence. He was not present at the Doongerwadi. However, some other members did protest stating that why non-Parsis should be allowed.
With a strong backing of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustees who are the custodian of the Tower of Silence and the police protection, the walk did take place with over 20 participants that included Parsis. The Asiatic Society of Mumbai, as part of its education walk had organised a heritage walk this Sunday at the Doongerwadi. "When they have given permission to foreigners in the past who have written about it, what is the problem now? This is not the first time we have come here," said Prof. Shehernaz Nalwalla, Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religion at Wilson College who facilitated the walk as part of the managing committee of Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
Dr. Ramiyar Karanjia, principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute, which trains Parsi kids to become priests conducted the walk. At the beginning those attending were told that there may be protest by some members of the community. "We are surprised that you are conducting this walk. Even the High priests has said that this is wrong," said one protester to Karanjia.
"I have been doing this for years and participants will be taken to the point where non-Parsi mourners or gardeners and other non-Parsis working in Doongerwadi are allowed. With respect to High Priest, the senior most has another opinion and even I myself will not do anything wrong,"' said Karanji to some people who were protesting.
During the walk, participants were shown Bunglees (pavilions) - both upper and lower - where Parsis and non-Parsis wait to mourn. A detail of the philosophy behind laying the dead in Tower of Silence, the first such to come in city and how exactly they function was explained by Dr. Karanjia. He also gave answers to questions about the concept of after life, among the Parsis. Dr. Karanjia also did a lot of talking and explaining to the angry community members who felt that people should not have been brought to the place.
Though the walk was restricted to a little before the place till where the permission waas given, participants welcomed the educative tour. "It was a very educative tour. We did get to understand a lot of rituals of Parsis and a lot of misconceptions were cleared that keep floating around," said Monalisa Mukherjee, a participant. On the protests, another participant who claimed to have been to the Bunglees in the past to mourn death of Parsi friends quipped, "Every religion has conflicting views. Today we saw that Parsis are argumentative but not violent despite giving the first Field Marshall to India."
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