A Private Discussion That Should Not Have Been Made Public

Readers are aware by now that ever since February 2017 I have been attempting to find a peaceful and amicable settlement to the increase in service charges, and pursuant to that I have met the BPP board by myself and in a group meeting in April. Progress has been slow. I have twice postponed my departure for Canada where I am required for a follow-up on my cardiac surgery.

Having witnessed Noshir Dadrawala’s soft approach on this issue, and since we have been friends for well over thirty years, I enquired with him if he would be comfortable to meet me along with Dinshaw Mehta and Parvez Driver, who are supporting the same cause to better understand the issue. Noshir said he had an open mind and he was open to the idea of meeting all factions in order to better understand the issues and the concerns of the community. It was a brief private meeting over tea at a restaurant in South Mumbai to help iron out differences which ultimately could help the community.

The report itself admits that I “arranged a personal meeting with Noshir Dadrawala”. That being the case it stands to follow the discussions should not have been made public, at least not without the express permission of either Noshir or me, preferably both. I had stated my objection to publicizing this meeting and its deliberations and this was supported by Mr. Driver also. It is for this reason that I wish to convey publicly to my friend Noshir, my sincere apologies for putting him in an embarrassing position.

Whereas I have been asking the BPP to review the steep increase in service charges, it would make me happy if at least those who cannot afford and are truly deserving are given the required subsidy. I am given to understand that the trustees of the BPP have agreed not to enforce this additional burden of service charge on those who genuinely cannot afford to pay. I would request the BPP to kindly instruct the Baug custodians accordingly and clearly clarify in the press how this will be implemented.

Long live our Kom-Unity!

Phiroze Amroliwalla (phirozeamroliwalla@gmail.com)

 

 

Truly  Disgusting, Sad and Shameful!

This has reference to a very pertinent letter from Mithoo and Jimi Jesia and Tina Patel titled, ‘Sad And Shameful Behaviour’ in the issue dated the 27^th of May 2017, in the ‘Letters To The Editor’ segment of Parsi Times. I fully concur with every word stated therein.

A handful of   unprincipled and unscrupulous persons, masquerading as the religiously devout, have made it a pass-time to indulge in calumny, distortions and misrepresentations calculated to create disharmony. The disgusting language used on social media has been outright defamatory!

Time and again, it has been authoritatively stated that National Minorities Commission does not concern itself with religious beliefs or practices of minorities. Yet some persons with venom filled pens want to create a deliberate and intentional misunderstanding in this regard with an ulterior motive to mislead the community into believing that National Minorities Commission will interfere with religious customs/ practices.

Since National Minorities Commission has been in existence for many years, I hereby call upon such self-appointed defenders of faith to cite one instance, yes – just one instance, when in the past, this Commission has dealt with religious beliefs/rites of any minority be it Christians, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Muslims or Jains – the five minority communities of India.

Will these venom-filled minds accept this reality?

Homi Dalal (homeedalal@gmail.com)