The Gujarat government has decided to form the Udwada Area Development Authority in order to “protect” one of the most important holy Parsi sites in south Gujarat.
Times News Network
The state urban development department issued a notification on Saturday declaring its intention to form the authority, whose main purpose would be ensure that the area is not “usurped” by haphazard industrialisation.
The notification was issued following chief minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with members of the Parsi community last Wednesday, which was headed by Parsis’ high priest Darturji Khurshedji Dastur. An official note issued after the meeting said, the state government wants to develop the Parsi settlement at Udwada as a “global capital of religious harmony.”
A senior government official said, during the meeting, Modi compared himself with King Jadav Rana of the eighth century, who gave refuge to the Parsis. “Just as the then king took care of you, I will take care of your interests”, he assured the community leaders. The Udwada development authority will have local Parsi community persons on its board, apart from district officials and town planning officials.