Free Republic

A Turkish man has been sentenced to prison on charges of membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the basis of his identity card showed his religion as Zoroastrian, Turkish newspaper Evrensel said. The case began in 2006, at which time Yücel Delek was a student at Niğde University. He was taken into custody on suspicion of having attended a PKK-linked protest, but was acquitted the following year after the university provided evidence he had been attending a class at the time. The case was re-opened in 2013. This time he was not so lucky. The evidence against him...

Zoroastrian texts such as the Avesta clearly define the status of Persian women and reveal that at a time when many women in the world were deprived of their basic rights, Persian women enjoyed social and legal freedom and were treated with great respect. Avestan texts mention both genders asking them to share responsibility and make decisions together. They are equally praised for their good deeds rather than their gender, wealth or power. “Whoever, man or woman, does what Thou, O Ahura Mazda, knowest to be the best in Life. Whoever does right for the sake of Right; Whoever in...

They have decreed that any Parsi man marrying outside the community will cease to be recognised as one of its members. Originally from Iran, the Parsis practice Zorastrianism. There are only 130,000 Parsis left around the world, of whom about 55,000 reside in India's financial capital, Bombay, or Mumbai. New rule Parsi women have for years been threatened with excommunication if they marry outside the community but now this rule has been extended to men. Their families, too, will not be initiated into the community if they marry out of it. The only good thing about this resolution is that...