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Monday, August 27, 2012

GROWTH OF ORTHODOX BAHA’I COMMUNITY IN INDIA - PART - 5


Inauguration  of Orthodox Baha’i Faith in India: 
Joel Bray Marangella marked the inauguration first time on 29th May 1991 on the Indian sub-continent by appealing in the Times of India, with the title: An appeal to the Heterodox Baha’is and appealed in a more comprehensive second advertisement on 7th March 1992 and subsequently, the third advertisement in the Times of India on 16 and 17th May 1992, which resulted in the historic formation of the Mother Baha’i Council of India in Delhi with Mr. Vinod Kumar, a young and faithful Baha’i, as its secretary. It had been the third guardian’s desire for the Faith in India to develop favorably. Subsequently two more local councils were formed in Bhagalpur district and the other in Thane, with a number of localities and individual believers declaring their loyalty to the “Center of the Cause” who is none other than the Living Guardian of the Faith Joel B. Marangella.   
Encouraged by the sudden response from the Indian Baha'is, the third Guardian, on the occasion of the 100th year of the Ascension of Baha u llah placed fourth adverstisement in the Times of India on May 29, 1992 which called upon the Indian Bahais to faithfully uphold the Covenant of Baha’u’llah by turning to the Guardian and serving their ties with the erroneously constituted sans-Guardian organization. The Guardian also welcomed the Indian Baha’is into the true Administrative Order, headed by the Guardian and founded upon sacred immutable provisions of Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha. With advertisements, the Bahai believers throughout India came to realize that the Guardianship is an integral part of the Faith.
Overwhelmed by the success of the Orthodox Baha'i Faith and eagerness of the Indian believers to accept the Faith under the Guardianship, the third Guardian, Joel Bray Marangella, sent two American believers, Mr. Frank Schlatter and David Maxwell, to assess the situation in India and while there, to teach and deepen the Orthodox Baha'is, during their visits to Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Baroda and Rajgir. Their visit enhanced the teaching activities of the Orthodox Baha’is and more firmly established the Orthodox Baha’i Faith in India.
Subsequently, more advertisements appeared and under the direction of the National Baha’i Council of India and with the cooperation of various local councils, many Councils were established and a number of individual Baha’is, residing in various parts of India, were brought into the Faith under the Guardianship.
The prominent personalities of the Orthodox Baha’i Community in India are Dr. Ram Krishna Singh of Varanasi. He is a University professor, teaching English language skills to students of earth and mineral sciences. He has authored over 150 articles, a65 book reviews and 34 books, including twelve collections of poems. He has received several awards and honours, including honorary Litt. D. from the World Academy of Arts and Culture, Taiwan, 1984, Michael Madhusudan Award, Calcutta, 1994 and Peace Museum Award from Ritsumeikan University, Koyoto, 1999. His blog: http://rksingh.blogspot.com .
Dr. Zayn Luqmani Fateh, a physician by profession, is an intellectual amongst the Baha’is of India due to his deep understanding of the Faith. He is the son of the late Dr. M.R. Luqmani, who was bestowed by the first Guardian Shoghi Effendi with the title of FATEH, the spiritual conqueror of Ceylon, where he rendered outstanding services.   Dr. Zayn when he was a child, met to the second Guardian Mason Remey in Celone.
Mr. Vinod Kumar a devoted Orthodox Baha’i, a banker by profession, formed many local Councils around Delhi and in other part of India. Mr. Vinod Kumar is a very brave man and he had debated many well known Baha’is of India concerning to the continuity of Guardianship in Baha’i Faith. He was the secretary of the National Bahai Council of India since its inception.
Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Mr. Rajni Patel, Mr. Y.H Taylor, Mr. Raj Paual Singh, Mrs. Madhu Mehta, Mr. Rajendra Upadhyaye, Mr. Rocky Patel, Mr. Ajay Sharma, Dr. Siddiqui, are the well known Orthodox Baha’is of India. (Some of the names of the prominent Bahais who have accepted the truth of continuty of Guardianship in Bahai Faith but due to some reason they can declare it publically, thus their names are not added this list).
Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand in India: Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand born in Shiraz (Iran) the city of the Bab on 25th August 1942. He grew up in Tehran. His ancestors from mother side were Baha’i and father sides were Muslims. His father Dr. Hassan Bahremand studied in Medicine in India in a British Medical College. The Third Guardian Joel Bray Marangella appointed to Mr. Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand on 22nd September 2006 as the Vice President of Third International Baha’i Council and upon the termination of his guardianship, his chosen successor. Nosrat visited India on 15th, 16th & 17th September 2010. Orthodox Baha’is of Thane, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad welcomed him with a great pleasure. 
Message of Mr. Nosrat'u'llah Bahremand to the Indian Bahais:
He gave the message to the Indian friends that “the Baha’i Faith teaches us to love our enemy also. We are servant. The Religion is Blessings for all of us. We are blessed one due to some of our good deeds.
Hands of Cause of God: The third Guardian of Baha’i Faith Joel Marangella has appointed till date twelve Hands of Cause from different parts of the world and two of them, Dr. A. Parikh and Mr. Y. H Taylor are from India.
Members of Third International Baha’i Council form India are Mr. Parikh and Mr. Taylor.
Our main sites are: www.bahaisorthodox.com and http//mybahaifaith.blogspot.com and many other sites.

A. Parikh,
Secretary,
National Baha’i Council of (Orthodox Baha’is) of India,
P.O. Box No.54,
Vasai Road, Thane (M.S)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

GROWTH OF ORTHODOX BAHA’I COMMUNITY IN INDIA - PART - 4

Third Guardian of Bahai Faith - Joel Bray Marangella
In 1965, Joel Bray Marangella became the Third Guardian of the Faith, having been appointed by Mason Remey as his successor both in a hand-written letter and through his appointment of him as the President of the Second International Bahá'í Council (the embryonic Universal House of Justice of which only the Guardian is the authorized legitimate head). He born on September 22, 1918 in Lynn, Massachusetts, to his parents Phillip Amalfi Marangella and Edith Brooks Guthrie Marangella, both of whom enrolled as Bahá'ís when Joel was a baby. He resided in many of the major cities of the United States and participated both in the spiritual and administrative activities of their various Bahá'í communities. He married Irene, also a Bahá'í, in 1945, and five years later they answered the call of Shoghi Effendi (the first Guardian of the Faith) for pioneers to go to Europe to help spread the Faith and spent eighteen years in France. In 1954, the Hands of the Cause appointed Joel as an Auxiliary Board Member for the propagation of the Faith. He participated in the formation of the first National Spiritual Assembly of France in May 1958 becoming its first President and again following its two successive elections. 
After leaving France in 1968, Joel lived successively in Germany, Switzerland and Australia before his return to the United States in March of 2010. Joel Bray Marangella is recognized by Orthodox Bahá'ís as the third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, the authorized interpreter of the Bahá'í Writings and the president and sacred head for life of the Universal House of Justice (provisionally named, in its embryonic form, as the International Bahá'í Council of the Orthodox Bahá'ís).
A. Parikh,
Secretary,
National Baha’i Council of (Orthodox Baha’is) of India,