“Today, I had a very important exam. I was supposed to appear in it around the afternoon, 1:30 PM precisely. I was going through my books when I came to know that my mother may call me from prison today. “Keep your phone on loud. Around 1:15 PM.” I was told. She would call after a month and I did not want to miss it. Because missing it would mean another thirty days without a moment of her voice. I didn’t know what to do when I received a phone call from the test center. The exam had been rescheduled to tomorrow due to some technical issues. I was on the moon. I sat with my phone in my hand, waiting and waiting. I thought that the postponement of the exam was God’s interference. But the call never came. I do not know the reason. I cannot ask her. Every day, I come to realize one basic truth of our lives: without freedom, our lives can’t be normal.”
–Kashmiri Ahmed Bin Qasim whose mother & father are both political prisoners