- Umar Khalid describes prison life as hardest at sunset, echoing Dostoevsky's experience of captivity's dread.
- He is a jailed Muslim leftwing activist known for anti-government protests and criticism of BJP's Hindu nationalist agenda, accused of terrorism in Delhi riots.
- Khalid's arrest and prolonged detention without trial are seen as part of a crackdown on dissent under Modi's government.
- He highlights the normalization of hate speech and India becoming a 'post-truth society', while feeling dehumanized by propaganda.