Srinagar, July 3 -- In the small pockets of Shia neighbourhoods across Kashmir, the sound of marsiyas, poetic elegies mourning the tragedy of Karbala, once shaped not just rituals of remembrance, but also the moral pulse of the community.

Among the many voices that carried this tradition, Mirza Abul Qasim stands apart.

His words, written in Kashmiri in the 19th century, carried both the weight of grief and the light of spiritual teaching.

For years, though, his legacy slipped from public memory.

That began to change when Syed Anis Kazmi took it upon himself to revive Qasim's work.

It was not an easy task. Marsiyas in Kashmir were mostly passed down by heart, recited at majlis gatherings, remembered but rarely written.

Kazmi, feeling...