The Parsi Zoroastrian Association (PZAK) in the Indian city of Kolkata recently forced YouTube to pull down a music video starring Iranian-born pop singer Amitis Moghaddam and superstar rapper Calvin Cordozar Broadus Junior, popularly known as Snoop Dogg. The complainants alleged that the production in question was blasphemous as it disrespects the faravahar, which is most sacred symbol of Zoroastrianism and an image commonly associated with Persian culture.

YouTube reached its decision after PZAK president Darayas Jamshed Bapooji filed a public interest litigation at Calcutta High Court through his lawyer Phiroze Edulji. Bapooji claimed to have watched the video only after receiving a number of angry emails from fellow Parsis and he immediately decided to put his foot down. Alleging that the video infringes upon the minority group’s constitutional rights, Bapooji demanded that the government immediately ban its distribution.

“We want the video removed, and they will have to apologize for having put it up in the first place — that is the very least we can hope for from them,” Bapooji said. “It’s not right, just because we’re a minority. If you did it to the Muslims and the Hindus, there would be riots here.”

Urging the court to protect the religious sentiments of the Parsi community, Bapooji cited India’s hate speech laws that have been used frequently to prosecute cases related to blasphemy.

“We don’t mind people making fun of us jokingly; we are quite humorous,” he said. “But that doesn’t extend to our religion.”

While the legal standing of his claims remain ambiguous, the Indian penal code does in fact criminalize all speeches that promote enmity between different groups on religious grounds or may appear detrimental to the maintenance of harmony in the country.

Since the court issued a notice to YouTube, the Parsi community in India has now been pushing the central government to take necessary steps that would ban the video and protect the religious rights of the microscopic religious minority.

“Upon further investigation, we found that the content in question has already been removed from the site. It may take some time for video search results and thumbnail images to disappear from the site but typically, this does not take more than a couple of days. Please be patient, as we assure you that the content has been removed,” YouTube's legal support team wrote back after receiving the legal notice from Calcutta High Court.

The faravahar constitutes a winged disk, with the three layers of feathers representing the three pillars of Zoroastrianism, namely good thoughts, good words and good deeds. The ring, representing eternity, has two streamers that depict the duality of good and evil and are placed on the left hand side and right hand side respectively. The face on the faravahar depicts Prophet Zoroaster, who preached to his followers about living a morally upright life.

“Not only does the video feature stripper poles and skimpily clad women smoking hookah in front of the Faravahar but also stars Snoop Dogg sitting on a throne underneath it. The respondents were well aware of the Faravahar and the religious sentiments that the Parsi Zoroastrians attach with it as Amitis Moghaddam is of Iranian decedent. Amitis Moghaddam was born in Mashad, Iran but is now based in Atlanta, US. Ironically, Amitis Moghaddam has been named after the princess who married the great Parsi Zoroastrian King Cyrus the Great. Yet intentionally they produced and published the said video with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging and insulting the religious feelings of the Parsi Zoroastrian community. The said video is insensitive towards the religious beliefs of one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world,” Edulji noted in his petition.

The petitioner explained that everything about the video appears offensive – from the semi-nude girls dancing on Persian carpets and smoking hookahs to Moghaddam sitting on the throne caressing her Persian cat, from Moghaddam speaking in an authentic Persian accent to all the Iranian props, including cashmere and the faravahar, used in the video.

“The wrong use of religious and sacred symbols and iconography hurts, insults and outrages the religious sentiments and beliefs of Parsi Zoroastrians. The lyrics of the song have nothing to do with Zoroastrianism. The Faravahar should be revered and respected as the Christian cross, Allah, the Star of David and Om, the religious symbols of all religions. All over the world, people respect religious symbols. The Faravahar, a sacred symbol for the Parsi Zoroastrians, does not belong to this song,” the petitioner stated.

While Snoop Dogg’s spokesperson refused to comment on the situation, both artists have kept quiet on how their collaboration came about.

Zoroastrianism happens to be one of the oldest monotheistic faiths in the world, dating back approximately 3,500 years. Even though the religion has its roots in Iran, only a handful of Iranians continue to practice it even today.  According to some surveys, less than 200,000 Parsis remain worldwide.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia