The water of the Dal sparkles under the July sun; anchored shikaras bob up and down as gentle waves lap at the shores of the iconic lake in the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Buses carrying pilgrims to the Hindu cave-shrine at Amarnath move along the boulevard that skirts Dal Lake; passengers peek out from the windows to click photographs on mobile phones as they soak in the beauty of the picture-postcard landscape. The buses are tucked in a military convoy—a long, winding row of diesel-powered vehicles carrying soldiers to this land of flaming-red chinar and snow-capped Himalayan peaks. It’s the land Mughal emperor Jahangir once famously described as the heaven on earth. It’s a paradise almost lost. It’s a paradise India seeks to regain.