In his rambling letter that sometimes reads like a fatwa, Nitin Mehta criticises me on three grounds. First, he says I do not credit the Hindus for welcoming the Parsis. This is just not true. I say very clearly that there were several Parsi settlements along the coast of Gujarat, which would not have been possible without Hindu hospitality. I also say that the Parsis have flourished in independent India in a way they did not elsewhere.
Second, and more importantly, Mehta says that the story of a glass of milk and sugar is true, and not a sweet myth that I take it to be. Mehta offers no evidence for his view. Further, it has no date to it and does not refer to any particular part of Gujarat. The Kille-i-Sanjan on which some rely draws on a long oral tradition and mixes facts with fantasy.
Furthermore the story implies that Hindus and Parsis had never met before, and that is just not true. It also implies that a glass of milk has a particular meaning. In fact it can mean different things such as that the kingdom is full, that the king is offering a drink, or any one of several possibilities.
Likewise, when the glass of milk is returned it can mean several different things. The meaning of the act is not clear to either party. It has to be made clear, explained, and that presupposes that the two share a common language, itself a product of long association between them.
In this context Rukshana Nanji’s excellent article in ‘Gujarat and the Sea’ edited by Lotika Varadrajan is worth reading, assuming that Nitinbhai is not averse to reading things that challenge his prejudices.
Thirdly, Mehta challenges my view that several Parsi leaders did not think that India was ready for full independence in the 1920s and earlier. Naoraji, Pherozeshah Mehta and others took that view as did several Hindu leaders. I discuss them in my ‘Colonialism, Tradition and Reform’. It was in fact a common and widely held view at the time until Gandhi embarked on the Non-Co-operation Movement.
One does not demonstrate one’s love of Hindus by spreading and believing in pleasant but false fantasies about their past. In fact one betrays them.
Bhikhu Parekh
Hull
