Srinagar, June 16 -- Rehana Ahanger once thought love meant correction.

Her elder son, a shy boy with large eyes and a shrinking confidence, was struggling in school, particularly with math and science.

"I believed if I pushed him, he'd learn. If I reminded him, again and again, he'd get better," she said. "But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. He'd stop smiling after school. He stopped drawing."

Rehana's small flat in Srinagar was filled with books she had bought for him: test prep, past papers, workbooks stacked neatly in corners. What it lacked was understanding.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," she said. "Every mother wants her child to succeed."

It wasn't until she accidentally found one of his sketchbooks under...