Biography Narrative

As a result of her master’s degree in socio-cultural anthropology she received from the Durham University in Durham, UK, during which she specialised in religious anthropology and world cultures, Sneha has gained deep insights on how religion is misused to incite conflict. Coming from India, she has witnessed the beauty in diversity, but has also perceived the enormous challenge in maintaining inter- and intra- religious harmony. She endeavours to make her community and the world a better place to live in, where respect for the other, compassion, empathy and peace thrives. She aspires to become an interreligious peace facilitator to achieve this goal.

For the past two years, she has worked with the Hindu Council of the UK and spearheaded the first comprehensive report on the Hindu diaspora of the UK. She conducts exhibitions, cultural fests and excursions to help people engage socially with those of other faith backgrounds in both India and the UK. She is the founder of “Religion through My Lenses” a forum that exhibits photographs of religious experiences and helps others to observe the diverse manners in which one understands his or her religion. She focuses on the importance of youth and women empowerment and is a firm believer that peace spreads when it starts from within ourselves.

Interreligious Activities and Initiatives

Conflict Transformation for Regional Peace Movement

This is a project in which 4 fellows in 3 different countries have created a peace training program, followed by a peace walk and a peace charter that each of the participant will adhere to. Since we were alumna of KAICIID Fellowship, we wanted to create a regional peace network as a pilot project of other regional peace projects. We have goal that we can hold this project yearly to maintain and strengthen regional peace network. We realized that we can’t make peace happen by doing it with our own. We need to work and collaborate with another to make this world a better place to live.

WOMEN’S GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR PEACE THROUGH IRD

Training women and girls in IRD to become proactive citizens and voice their say in matters concerning conflict management and transitional justice.

Transitional Masks

The project aims to use theatre as a tool to reach out to the masses and promote harmony. A theatre group called ‘Sixth Sense’ comprising young adults will enact a script that highlights how religion is used to incite violence and for political gains and how dialogue can act as a bridge to walk towards peace.