At the Federation meet in Thane, Khambatta, who is also the vice-president of the Federation, came out heavily against the organisation’s proposal to change their constitution.

‘‘The current voting pattern at the federation is one vote per panchayat. While the number of panchayats in Gujarat is large, the number of Parsis is relatively fewer. The new voting pattern will reduce us into minority,’’ says Khambatta.

Navsari in south Gujarat has the largest number of Parsis—about 7,000. Surat comes second with 4,500. Valsad has 3,000 Parsis while Ahmedabad and Vadodara have 1,900 and 1,100. And while Parsis in Gujarat are somewhere between 15,000 to 18,000, the number is about 45,000 in Mumbai and 12,000 in Pune.

Khambatta was instrumental in setting up the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthostis (WAPIZ) that turns a year old today. This body is leading Parsis across the state in the war against the reformists. Then there are other ways by which the state’s ‘traditionalist’ Parsis are hitting out against the ‘reformists.’

‘‘We are beginning a rehabilitation programme for older and weaker Parsis across the state,’’ says Khambatta.

Encouraging the young of the community to mix among themselves, the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat is also actively arranging marriage meets. More war tactics may soon emerge.