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From rites to rights

Author: Nergish Sunavala
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 20, 2014
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/deep-focus/From-rites-to-rights/articleshow/38716306.cms

A Hindu pandit who doesn't shy away from lesbian weddings, a clergyman who backs the idea of women priests, a Parsi cleric who blesses interfaith marriages...Meet the progressive priests who have challenged the status quo

 At age 10, Jatin Maharaj made two life-changing decisions. He became the disciple of a broadminded Brahmin priest. And he joined jogti kinnar, a group of devout hijras. For those who knew him, neither decision came as a shock. At the local municipal school in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area, he was the "baila", who wore make-up to class and topped it off with an enormous 'tikka'. Despite the incessant ragging from his classmates, Maharaj embraced both his craving for the spiritual — he was drawn to Shiva from an early age — as well as the need to be a transgender.

 Today, Maharaj, a "dharma guru" of the jogti kinnar community, is a staunch supporter of the country's LGBT movement. "If two lesbians approach me, I will happily perform their wedding," says Maharaj. He points out that Shikhandi in Mahabharata was of the third gender. "Shikhandi must have had to satisfy his sexual appetite," he says, "if it was okay for him, it has to be okay for us." Like Maharaj, there are progressive priests from other faiths who hold their ground when established norms butt heads with their personal beliefs. His own guru, for instance, took a philosophical stance when it came to Maharaj's non-Brahmin caste and gender identity.

"Brahma jo janta ha, vahi Brahmin hai, apne jaat par nirbhar nahi hota hai (He who knows Brahma is a Brahmin, it's not dependant on caste)." Father Suren can cite a number of areas where his views "diverge" from the stance taken by the Catholic Church. "Religion forms a frame of reference, not the universe. So each one must also stand up for what can clearly be perceived to be true and just even if it is in conflict with the stand of the hierarchy," he wrote over email. Though he isn't married himself, he believes that a precedent exists for women priests and married priests.

 "Priests and bishops were married in the early years of the Church," he explained.

 Suren is one of two male members of Satyashodhak, a feminist collective in Mumbai, and has expressed his opinions openly during group discussions. Considering he also supports "civil marriages" for same sex couples, his views are hotly debated. However, he maintained that he has not faced any "pressure or persecution" for his beliefs.

 Not everyone is as lucky. Ever so often, Dasturji Khushroo Madon sees himself referred to as a "renegade priest" in newspapers. The catchphrase has become popular since 2009, when an altercation between two priests and the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) led to a high-profile battle. It is currently being waged in the Supreme Court. Madon's controversial activities include blessing interfaith unions, performing the last rites of those who choose to be cremated, and doing the navjotes of children born to Parsi mothers married outside the faith. "While still in my teens, I was approached by a Parsi woman to do her child's navjote," recalled Madon, "I read the religious scriptures in which it was written that even non-Parsis can follow the Zarthoshti religion, so I thought why not?" The hypocrisy of allowing men who marry outside to make their children Parsi only strengthened his resolve.

 Over the last six years, Madon has been banned from praying in two BPP-owned agiaries, at the sacred Tower of Silence, and is often the focus of scathing editorials. But that hasn't deterred his son, Fali, from following in his footsteps. "After reading translations of the sacred scriptures (Gathas), I was convinced that what we were doing was right," said the 27-year-old, who is the chief priest of a Colaba agiary.

  
Fali did his BA in Sociology from Mumbai's Wilson College and then worked at Godrej for over a year. He became a full-time "dasturji" because of the growing "demand" for progressive priests. "Surprisingly, both the parents and kids are more excited about the navjote when one parent is non-Parsi," observed Fali. At social gatherings, many of these children — now grown up — thank Madon for initiating them into the religion at a time when other priests turned them away. And those, who have become parents, invite the father-son duo to do the navjote ceremony of their children as well.
 
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