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)
