Srinagar, June 24 -- For years, the conversation around HIV in Kashmir has been stuck in hesitation. Many still treat it like a distant, unspeakable threat, something that happens to "other people."

Yet official numbers now point to a growing, if largely ignored, concern.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir AIDS Control Society, the region currently has around 4,000 identified HIV-positive cases. But health experts warn that these are only the tip of the iceberg.

"There is no reliable estimate of how many people are actually living with HIV here because a huge section of the population has never been tested," said Dr. Bashir Ahmad, a senior physician involved in HIV counseling in Kashmir. "The social fear is so deep that people avoid te...