THE SUN HAS come out in Kashmir after two days of intermittent rain, and in its luminosity, the anti- India slogans painted in bold letters along roads in Kulgam are clearly visible. Slogans against India and its security forces are not new in Kashmir. But in Kulgam and its neighbouring districts of Shopian and Pulwama, there are so many of them that it gives the impression of an area under siege. Like most of rural Kashmir, Kulgam, around 70 km south of Srinagar, is beautiful. With orchards laden with apples, vast paddy fields, lush green meadows, springs, and a tributary of Jhelum River flowing through it, Kulgam looks like a slice of paradise. But today, it is a place at war. In 2008, it was declared ‘militancy free’; in 2017,…