Surat Parsis condemns SPP trustees for making lame excuses to NMC member

Surat : Padma Shri Yazdi Karanjia, life-time member of Surat Parsi Panchayat (SSP), and its trustees have come under fire from the Surat Parsi community for making flimsy excuses to Ms Syed Shahezadi, a member of the National Minorities Commission (NMC), regarding encroachments on land parcels owned by SPP in Surat.

On Tuesday, Ms Syed Shahezadi, an honourable member of the NMC, presided over a meeting with minority community leaders at the Surat Circuit House. During the meeting, Yazdi Karanjia, who remained present on behalf of the Parsi community, strongly represented the illegal encroachments by unscrupulous elements on land parcels owned by the SPP and demanded the NMC’s support.

According to Parsi community members, the SPP and the Parsee Surat Charity Fund (PSCF), Mumbai, turned a blind eye to unscrupulous elements encroaching on certain parcels of land in Surat worth more than Rs 500 crore. The prime land parcels in Surat have been encroached upon due to the SPP trustees’ inaction.

Members of the Parsi community have claimed that encroachments on SPP-owned land parcels were possible due to a mutual understanding and hidden settlement between SPP, Surat and the Parsee Surat Charity Funds PSCF, Mumbai, led by the hereditary baronet. The trustees’ motto was to remain silent, take no action, and allow others to encroach on the SPP’s prime lands.

Members of the Parsi community have raised serious concerns about the trustees of the SPP’s motives and operations. The members have asked the SPP trustees to clarify the status of the land parcels encroached upon in Surat, as well as who the encroachers are. Reveal the truth about the land at Tower of Silence (Dokhma) in Piplod. What steps have the SPP trustees taken to use the land parcels that have yet to be encroached for the benefit of the Parsi community and the people of Surat, or are the trustees waiting for the encroachers to claim the land?