Dawoodi Bohra members told to switch to Indian style toilets, advisory calls western commodes 'alien' culture

Mumbai: The Dawoodi Bohra community has come up with a health advisory for its members: Switch over from using western toilets to Indian-style ones. [caption id=“attachment_3435376” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] An advisory issued to community members during an awareness drive recently stated that there were “medical benefits” in the use of Indian-style toilets. “Using western-style toilets is alien to our culture. It is an accepted fact that using Indian toilets has certain medical benefits,” a community spokesperson said. However, he made it clear that the directive was not being forced on community members. “No one is being forced to implement this directive. We realise that senior citizens may find it difficult to use Indian-style toilet,” he said. In a bid to improve the living conditions of members of the community in over 650 towns and cities across India and abroad, the Dawoodi Bohra community had held its third annual ‘Upliftment Drive’ from 21 December. The five-day-long drive was aimed at improving basic needs of community members will have participation of over 21,000 community members comprising clergy, doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, businessmen, home makers and students, he said.