A growing legal and cultural battle is unfolding within India’s Parsi community as women challenge centuries-old traditions that prevent them from passing their religious identity to their children.
At the centre of the debate is a question that could shape the future of one of the world’s oldest and smallest religious communities: Who has the right to be called a Parsi?
The issue comes at a critical time. Once numbering more than 100,000 people in India, the Parsi population has steadily declined over the decades. Experts now warn that fewer than 25,000 Parsis could remain in the country by 2050 if current demographic trends continue.
Parsis are descendants of Zoroastrians who fled Persia, present-day Iran, more than 1,300 years ago after the Muslim conquest of the region. Settling on India’s western coast, they became one of the country’s most influential minority communities, producing prominent figures in business, science, the military, and the arts.
Despite their contributions, strict religious rules have long governed membership of the community. Under a legal precedent dating back to a 1908 court ruling, only children born to Parsi fathers are officially recognised as Parsis. Women who marry outside the faith often lose certain religious privileges, while their children can be excluded from places of worship, community institutions, and cultural traditions.
The restrictions have become increasingly controversial as more Parsi women choose partners outside the faith. Critics argue that the rules are not only discriminatory but are also accelerating the community’s population decline.
Among those speaking out is Mumbai resident Sanaya Dalal, whose family has experienced exclusion despite deep roots within the community. Her husband, Rishi Kishnani, whose mother was Parsi, recalls being barred from participating in community activities as a teenager because his father was not a Parsi.
Today, he fears his son faces similar treatment.
The controversy has triggered a series of legal battles across India. One of the most significant cases involves Goolrokh Gupta, who challenged restrictions that prevented her from performing funeral rites for her parents after marrying outside the faith. In 2017, India’s Supreme Court granted an interim order allowing her access to Zoroastrian places of worship.
Another ongoing court challenge centres on children born to interfaith marriages who were denied entry into a fire temple in Kolkata. Supporters of reform argue that such exclusions weaken ties between younger generations and the faith.
Filmmaker and photographer Sooni Taraporevala believes embracing children of interfaith unions could help secure the future of the community.
“Once women who are married to non-Parsis and their children can be classified as Parsis, then I don’t think we’ll go extinct anymore,” she said.
The debate has exposed a widening divide between traditionalists determined to preserve long-standing customs and reformists who argue that survival requires adaptation.
For many Parsis, the discussion is about more than religion. It touches on identity, heritage, family, and belonging in a community that has spent centuries balancing cultural preservation with life in a rapidly changing world.
As India’s courts continue to hear challenges to these rules, the outcome could redefine what it means to be Parsi in the 21st century—and determine whether one of the world’s oldest religious communities can reverse its steady decline.
