ABSTRACT
The convocation of the University of Punjab was considered a grand occasion and was scheduled for soon after my release from prison. Not content with having had me arrested, my principal, Mr. Garrett, asked the Senate (the governing body of the university) to withhold my master’s degree. We had been hearing rumors to this effect while I was still in prison. Mother knew that she was powerless behind bars, but she encouraged the people of Lahore to take steps to prevent this injustice to her daughter. I had passed the examination through my own efforts, so why should I be deprived of the degree? Whether they were responding to public pressure or their own good sense, the members of the Senate threw out this resolution. I remember I purchased a new sari for this occasion. Receiving a degree is an important time in any student’s life, but for me it was doubly so because I had nearly lost the right to write the letters M.A. after my name.
