Addressing her first public rally after the terror strikes in Mumbai, Sonia Gandhi said India had been talking about brotherly relations with its neighbours and no one should construe this as a weakness.

The choice of rally venue as well as the words were significant. It was here three-and-a-half years ago that she had flagged off the first peace bus to roll on the reopened Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road which runs through this town. This biggest-ever confidence building measure between India and Pakistan in Kashmir had followed a ceasefire along the LoC in 2003, bringing peace and hope to thousands in the Valley.

On Wednesday, Sonia’s tone and tenor were stern. “Our country is united in the fight against terrorism. If terrorists think they are going to intimidate us then they are mistaken. We will never talk to those speaking the language of terrorism,” she said.

Aware that the audience was predominantly Muslim, Sonia reiterated that terrorism had no religion. “Terrorism is essentially against our democracy and progress,” she said and added: “And we will fight terrorism through the power of our democracy.”

Sonia congratulated the Kashmiri people for showing faith in democracy of the country. “By voting in large numbers, the Kashmiri people have exhibited their faith in democracy. They have understood that peace and prosperity can be achieved through this process,” she said.

Shah Bano, 60, who had lost her husband 10 years ago to cross-border shelling, was in the audience. She had trekked 7 km from her village Piranpila to join the rally. But she had a different expectation from Gandhi. “I have lost my husband in the shelling in 1999. I don’t want India and Pakistan should go to war again. It will bring disaster in the border areas,” she said.

“I have heard about terror attacks in Mumbai. It is very sad that innocent people are being killed. But war will create more problems, especially for us who live close to the LoC,” she added.