“I was sitting in a corner of the courtroom, unspeaking and hopeful when Mr. Mian Abdul Qayoom rose and started presenting my father’s case. My father had completed his 20 years of imprisonment and was expected to be released. After listening to the arguments, the judge glanced at me and declared with an air of indifference, “Life imprisonment means imprisonment until death.” I remember Mian Qayoom’s ashen face, his eyes turning to me and then closing. He had done everything he could, to seek justice for me, in the courts of occupation. Today, the 76-year-old lawyer, who brought so many of our prisoners home, is in jail — ailing and weakening. We pray for your health, strength, and freedom.”
–Kashmiri Ahmed Bin Qasim whose mother & father are both political prisoners