College students participate in Yuva Sadbhav

Yuva Sadbhav, a two-day Inter Faith programme for young people from different Faiths and Beliefs was held at the Pilar Pilgrim Centre, Pilar, on the 26 and 27 of March. Around sixty-three college students from ten different colleges across Goa came together to dialogue and build solidarity with one another. Yuva Sadbhav is an activity of Sadbhav – an initiative of the Society of Pilar to foster interfaith relations and communal harmony. Fr. Lawrence Fernandes, the Director of Pilar Pilgrim Centre, welcomed the youngsters and in the words of St. John Paul II, called them to be “Watchmen of the Morning”.

Pravin Sabnis, a corporate trainer, was one of the resource persons for Yuva Sadbhav. Through his session titled ‘rainbow diversity’, he said that “without justice and dignity, equality is not possible. We have to work towards humanism and communal harmony through interaction between different communities to celebrate diversity”. Tallulah D’silva, Prof. Joan Rebello, Fr. Elvis Fernandes, Ambrin Beig and Asim Shaikh also facilitated the other sessions.

Mohammad Kaif, one of the participants from Padre Conceicao College College, Verna-Goa, said that “Yuva Sadbhav helped in creating interreligious awareness and overcoming prejudice”.Yuva Sadbhav came to a close with Sadbhav Prarthana - an interfaith prayer meet for connecting spiritually with members from different faith communities. The prayer meet was led by representatives from six different religions. They presented their reflections based on the theme ‘Mercy and Forgiveness’. Subhash Sajane, a civil engineer by profession, represented the Jain Religion.  Dr. Sitakant N. Kamat Ghanekar, an oncologist, represented the Hindu Religion. Devapriyo Chakma from Arunachal Pradesh represented the Buddhist Religion.

Maulana Abdul Quddus Khan, an active member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, represented Islam Inderjeet Kaur, a teacher by profession in Kendriya Vidyalaya INS MANDOVI, represented the Sikh Religion, and Fr. Menino Gonsalves, a member of the Society of Jesus, represented the Christian religion. All of them spoke of experiencing God’s mercy and forgiveness and in turn becoming channels of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Fr. Cedric Prakash, a well-known human rights, reconciliation and peace activist, who was the special guest during Sadbhav Prarthana, inspired the gathering through his sharing of ideas and critical thoughts on interfaith issues in our times. Fr. Sebastiao Mascarenhas, the Superior General of the Society of Pilar applauded the college students for participating in Yuva Sadbhav and celebrating their diversity. He said that this is not just a one-time event but a movement to build communal harmony and peace. Fr. Elvis Fernandes, the convenor of Sadbhav thanked each and every person for their valuable contribution towards the organisation of Yuva Sadbhav. 

Prof. Carina Vaz and Prof. Resham Bhambra were the comperes during the Sadbhav Prarthana.