In the spirit of Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat, the Ministry of Minority Affairs hosted a event to honour the legacy of Zoroastrians in the Country today at Delhi ParsiAnjuman to exemplify the ethos of unity, diversity, and inclusivity that defines Bharat. The event was chaired by Smt. SmritiZubinIrani, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs and Women & Child Development.
The event aimed to honour the legacy of Zoroastrians by adopting a comprehensive approach to successfully interact with the Parsi community representatives. Through their achievements and contributions, the Parsis have truly exemplified the ideals of One India, Great India.
The essence of India lies in its rich cultural diversity and the harmonious co-existence of different communities. As part of the Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat initiative, which aims to celebrate the unity in diversity of our nation, the Ministry of Minority Affairs highlighted the contributions and legacy of the Zoroastrian community in India. The Zoroastrians, also known as Parsis, have a long and illustrious history in India, dating back over a thousand years.
As the nation continues to promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding among different communities, inspiration need to be drawn from the Zoroastrian community’s journey in India, which serves as a shining example of resilience, co-option, adaptability, and excellence.
The event was blessed with the presence of VadaDasturjiKhurshedDastur, High Priest of the Shreeji Pak IranshahAtashbehram, Udvada. Shri John Barla, Minister of State for Ministry of Minority Affairs and representatives from various Parsi organisations across the country participated in the event.
The event facilitated interaction with the Parsi Community representatives to showcase the effective steps taken by the Government for the overall welfare of the Micro-Minority in the country. During the event, key insights were shared, highlighting various support services from containing the population decline to revival of languishing languages. Collectively, these initiatives underscore the Government’s commitment to mainstream the minority communities and building a strong Nation.
The event witnessed signing of anMoU to develop ‘Centre for Avesta-Pahlavi Studies’ at University of Mumbai. Avesta – Pahlavi, the ancient and sacred language of the Parsis is one of the ancient languages used by members of Parsi community. This language is used in the Zoroastrian scriptures of the Parsicommunity that imbibes the humanitarian values amongst its followers and makes them tolerant law-abiding citizens of the society. Avesta – Pahlavi bears a close affinity to Sanskrit, the classical language of India being a branch of the great Indo-Iranian stock of languages.
Focusing on the increasing demand and need for reviving the language not only as a subject for higher education but also to preserve the learnings of Parsi Zoroastrian culture, this is the unique exercise and initiative on part of the Ministry of Minority Affairs to revive and develop the earlier existing department for the language in the Mumbai University after 21 years by setting up of ‘The Centre for Avesta-Pahlavi Studies’.
Ministry of Minority Affairs in collaboration with Mumbai University aims to establish the Centre and required infrastructure for undertaking certificate courses, diploma courses, and PhD programs with an amount of approx. Rs. 11.20 Crore.
The improved guidelines of the JiyoParsi Scheme were also launched. The implementation of the scheme through involvement of State Governments, Parsi Organisations would facilitate better outreach among the community and would improve the coverage of the scheme across the country. The scheme provides financial benefits to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT).
Smt. Smriti Z. Irani, Union Minister for Minority Affairs and Women & Child Development highlighted the importance of revival of languishing languages, especially those related to notified minority communities. On this occasion, the Minister emphasized revival of other languishing languages. Smt. Irani informed details regarding the mode of assistance under the JiyoParsi scheme and urged the Parsi organisation representatives to make the community aware about the scheme.
The Minister also emphasised that young Parsis need to be trained in ethnic skills and may be financially assisted by the Ministry and encouraged to take up entrepreneurship.
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