The Aman Ki Asha Facebook group has been abuzz with this video of an Indian posing as Pakistani in Connaught Place New Delhi to gauge the responses of ordinary passers-by. The overall reaction of Indians walking by – not a sign of hostility, and many hugs – has been heartwarming

The young man who posed as a Pakistani holding up a sign saying, ” I am from Pakistan but I love India as much as you do. Can I get free hugs?”  is Mumbai-based Dhaval Gori, a twenty five year senior project co-ordinator with a freight forwarding company. Dhaval is an avid traveler who likes backpacking and travelling the Himalayas solo. He is a member of the recently formed Ride For Peace group. In India, the group members include r Gori, Bhavesh Hagawane and Karan Narang. Dhaval and two group members are planning to ride for peace across India and Pakistan.

Undaunted by the restrictive visa regime between the two countries, the group members have connected with senior officials in the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and are planning to apply for a “purpose visa” for their bicycle ride.

Aman ki Asha member Samir Gupta reached out to ask him some questions:

What is Ride For Peace and how are you involved?

Ride For Peace India Pakistan is a travel project between the two nations, to highlight the reality of what people on both sides think of each other.

The media and politicians in India portray a monochromatic image of Pakistan as a terrorist nation. However, Pakistan is more than a few terrorists who cross the border and indulge in terror attacks. Pakistanis face many more problems than us – more terrorist attacks, army coups, political instability etc. The locals there are similar to us.

Through Ride For Peace, we will interview thousands of locals in India and Pakistan and capture their reactions and statements for each other. We will publish these interviews weekly on our YouTube and other social media channels.

We also intend to highlight cultural similarities between the two nations through our videos. Once we complete our journey, we will put together a documentary of 30-45 minutes featuring our travels over a course of seven months.

All of us, co-riders and team members, will share the interviewing and camera-handling during our journey.

How did you get involved with Indo-Pak peace activism?

In December 2015, I had a road accident and was operated upon for shoulder dislocation. Since I was on bedrest for two months, I used that time to connect with Pakistanis through social media.

Those interactions changed my misconceptions about Pakistanis and I felt the need to share my experience with others. There are many who have misconceptions towards Pakistan. Since my friends and I like traveling, we decided to conduct this peace campaign and Ride For Peace was born.

How did you get the idea for the video you did?

We wanted to do a social experiment to find out how people would react when they come across a Pakistani. Would they be angry? Happy? Overwhelmed? Shocked? Confused?

We wanted to capture it all. The video was an experiment for us, and a teaser for the audience to let people know what they can expect from our ride.

How did it come about? Did you get any adverse reactions during the shoot?

We had initially planned to perform this in Mumbai but then we met some people with a background in Mass Communication in Delhi who offered help to film the video at Connaught Place in Delhi and edit it.

We made the plan at such a short notice that we did not even have the time to take permission from the local police.

The reactions that we received from locals were mind blowing. We planned to shoot for an hour and as we started getting a good response from people, we thought of extending it. However, we had to stop after 45 minutes as the police arrived and asked us to wind up since we did not have permission to film there.

As we were talking to the policeman, a local girl came up and started arguing with him to let us continue. It was wonderful to see others standing up for the cause. However, we decided to stop.

So the only adverse response was the arrival of the police which was due to bad planning on our part.

What has been response to your video across the border?

We have friends and counterparts in Pakistan who are enthusiastically planning a ride in Pakistan. There is tremendous camaraderie on both sides and they are very excited about our project. The video has been very well received in Pakistan and people have approached us saying they want to do a similar campaign there.

I think there is an enormous love between people in the two countries that is not yet acknowledged. The time has come for it to be highlighted and brought to a larger audience.

Have you been to Pakistan?

I have never been to Pakistan but I definitely want to visit.

Do you fear being harassed?

I believe if we have proper permission and if we follow the formalities and procedure on both sides then there will be no question of being harassed.

While we were a bit nervous at the beginning, the nervousness disappeared after connecting with our Pakistani friends via the social media.  We have come a long way from the days of fear and confusion.

Any messages for Pakistanis?

When I was posing as a Pakistani in Delhi, a girl who approached me and started asking questions. She said, “We love you, India loves Pakistan, all that we hate is the terrorism which you also face, just like us, but we have no grudges or hatred against any Pakistani people”.

We want to say that we both have same enemies: terrorism, illiteracy, poverty and other problems associated with being a developing nation. Why don’t we fight this war together rather than fighting each other?

Samir Gupta is an IT professional and a peace activist based in Ghaziabad, India.