From The Migrated Community To The Nation

On the sixth day of Farvardin (first month of the year in Iranian calendar) or March 25/26 is the birth anniversary of Zoroaster who was an ancient Iranian spiritual leader who founded what is now known as Zoroastrianism.

And this year in 2020, "Humanitarian Medical  Aid and Medical Supplies" from his overseas followers, especially India has sent to Iran that is among the hardest hit by the Coronavirus.

These medical supplies are being provided to the Yazd University of Medical Sciences.

These aids from Zoroastrians came to Iran in two parts, said Sepanta Niknam, head of the Yazd Zoroastrian Association.

Left: Detail of The School of Athens by Raphael, 1509, showing Zoroaster (left, with star-studded globe)
Right: (right to left) Dr. Masoud Sharifi, Technical Assistant of Yazd Health Center, Dr. Mohammad Reza Dehghani, Deputy of Health of Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Sepanta Niknam, Head of the Zoroastrian Association of Yazd

He added: In consultation with Homy Gandhi, Farshin Fosana (Union of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) and recounting the critical conditions of the epidemic in Yazd, he presented a list of needed medicines and equipment provided by Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. The medical aids and equipment are sponsored by Dr. Cyrus Poonawala, head of the Poonawala group and Serum Institute, Mr. Youssef Hamid of Cipla in India, Mr. Homi Gandhi, Dr. Shernaz Cama, head of the UNESCO Parzor Foundation, Mr. Giv Irani Provided by the Zoroastrian Association of Mumbai, Mr. Dorab Mystri and Malcolm Debo from England with the great help of Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, New Delhi.

Dr. Cyrus Poonawala who donated large part of the aid

So, let's back to the Zoroaster.

Zoroaster

Some scholars date Zoroaster in the 7th and 6th century BC as a near-contemporary of Cyrus the Great and Darius I. Zoroastrianism eventually became the official religion of Ancient Persia and its distant subdivisions from the 6th century BCE to the 7th century CE.

Persepolis, Ceremonial Capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Fars, Iran

However, all Iranians no matter from which community, they practice those traditions and festivals founded by him and they believe in

Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds

An image of Zoroaster on display at the Yazd Atash Behram (Zoroastrian fire temple) in Yazd, Yazd province, Iran

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is the world's oldest continuously practiced religion. The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, which includes as central the writings of Zoroaster known as the Gathas, enigmatic ritual poems that define the religion's precepts, which is within Yasna, the main worship service of modern Zoroastrianism.

Yazd Fire Temple, Yazd, Iran

The religious philosophy of Zoroaster divided the early Iranian gods of the Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition into ahuras and daevas, the latter of which were not considered worthy of worship. Zoroaster proclaimed that Ahura Mazda was the supreme creator, the creative and sustaining force of the universe through Asha, and that human beings are given a right of choice between supporting Ahura Mazda or not, making them responsible for their choices.

Yazd Fire Temple, Yazd, Iran

Parsis

Parsis are an ethnoreligious group who migrated to the Indian subcontinent from Persia during the Muslim conquest of Persia of CE 636–651; one of two such groups (the other being Iranis).

Atash Bahram Fire Temple, Udvada, Iran

Over the centuries since the first Zoroastrians arrived in India, the Parsis have integrated themselves into Indian society while simultaneously maintaining or developing their own distinct customs and traditions (and thus ethnic identity).

Parsi Wedding Portrait, 1948

This in turn has given the Parsi community a rather peculiar standing: they are Indians in terms of national affiliation, language and history, but not typically Indian in terms of consanguinity or ethnicity, cultural, behavioural and religious practices.