To celebrate the 550th Prakash birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji, Pritpal Singh Pannu, Chairman of National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists, organised Guru Nanak Sadbhawna Yatra in four phases on routes travelled by him to spread his message of harmony, peace and goodwill

Reputed youth leader, philanthropist, trainer and social activist, Pritpal Singh Pannu is deeply committed to improve the quality of living for people all around the world. He started in his very young age to make palpable differences in the society and guided thousands of youth for a better career and life. His qualification gives him uncanny ability to relate to people. A mammoth step in his quest for helping underprivileged youth was taken when he became instrumental in forming National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists, NIFAA, formerly known as National Institute of Fine Arts Samiti.

To celebrate 550th Prakash Birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji, NIFAA have decided to organise Guru Nanak Sadbhawna Yatra in four phases on routes travelled by Guru Nanak Dev ji in his life time to spread his message of harmony, peace and goodwill among all. Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the great social reformer and humanitarian travelled more than 40,000 miles during his four Udasis in all four directions. Apart from giving his message, NIFAA have planned to plant 55,000 saplings at 100 important places throughout the routes covered.

You have visited Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries too. How would you describe your experience?

The trip to Bangladesh and Nepal was great. In Pakistan too, the people were very welcoming. As I spoke to them, it was evident in their attitude how they desire peace. But somehow, people are not able to portray their real emotions.

Overall, the trip was a great experience and it made me understand the different cultures and our neighbouring countries better.

While you were on your trip, you did live from the Gurudwara. There were people from all religions. What would you say about such a positive sight?

Yes, there were people from almost all the religions. The population of Sikhs is very less there so the other communities, too, take care of the Gurudwara, which is something so good to see as it brings unity and harmony among everybody. I know a Christian, who was offered a government job but he refused it and he chose to provide his service to the Gurudwara. There are some Muslim families, too, who serve the Gurudwara. I can clearly recall an incident when a Sikh and a Muslim together fought a case for the Gurudwara’s land in Kolkata High Court. But the Dhaka University in Bangladesh is made on that land, which was named after Guru Nanak Dev Ji. They said that because the land is of Guru Nanak ji, there should be a Gurudwara instead of the university. And they won the case. But then the people took advantage of the 1971 fight and killed both of them. Later, the  government acquired the land. A part of it was given to the Gurudwara, where now stands Nanak Shahi Gurudwara. However, to sum up my journey, I would say that during my trip, I felt that the citizens of every country want love and peace but the politics is what divides them.

How do you connect with people for your objectives?

It’s a continuous process. Many people volunteer on their own. And we ask some of the people to join us. We have asked a few people to plant the trees at various places. Now, we are doing a follow up on them. We regularly keep a check a on them by asking for the number of trees planted, videos and photos. We are also connected with people of different countries through social media, who are interested in our mission. This helps us to gather people from all across the globe, who are interested in spreading love and brotherhood.

How did the government of other countries respond to your mission?

We did not connect much with them. Since this is a social work, so we did not wanted to involve the government. And we knew that if we would include them, they will have their separate agenda. So we did not even take any sponsorship from them. The government’s role was only to provide us with Visa and other local facilities. So we did not face any problem and in fact got immense love from them.

Your next trip is to the Arab countries. Provide us with a deeper insight into this.

Yes, we have planned to go to the Arab countries. We wanted to go to Saudi Arabia but unfortunately, they don’t allow non-muslims to Mecca. So we are sending two of our Muslim friends there. I will go to Iraq and Afghanistan.