Pakistan’s Dwindling Parsi Community

Abstract

The Persian Zoroastrians, adherents of one of the world’s oldest surviving belief systems, are

well-known as Parsis. Parsi is an ethno-religious community in Pakistan and is struggling for

their survival in contemporary society. The present study is drawn with a desire to comprehend

the question why Parsi Community is fast declining demographically in spite of an advance

contribution in intellectual and socio-cultural life of Pakistan? The arguments behind the decline

in the Parsi population within Pakistan are analyzed with a critical approach. .The findings

revealed that the dwindling numbers of Parsis is due to low birth rates, low marital fertility,

inter-religion marriages and high level of immigration. The orthodox view of blood purity has

also restricted community to own the children born out of inter-religion marriages. In the

scenario the Parsi faith will tend to survive but Parsis will not.