New Delhi: Over 500 grandparents have filed a case in the Supreme court of India seeking rights to visit, fondle and show their affection by spending time with their grandchildren who are torn apart between estranged parents.

Divorce, which was hitherto part of an alien culture, has become very commonplace in India too. Statistics reveal that over 40% of the marriages end up in divorce particularly in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The children of such separated parents are caught between them and suffer.

It is a significant fact that in 99% of the cases of divorce, custody of children is granted only to the wife. The poor husbands are allowed to visit their children only once a week or, once a month in some cases.

This apart, over 500 grandmas and grandpas have raised a banner of revolt against the system questioning the unfairness of denying their right to visit, see, talk to and fondle their grandchildren.

These grandparents have filed a petition in the Supreme court seeking special provision for custody and visitation for the grandparents of children whose parents are divorced.

"What else would give us solace and happiness in our twilight years than being close to those children and shower our love and affection on them? Hence we demand unrestricted access to our grandchildren irrespective of the individual parent who has been given the custody, such that we can visit and talk to them at any time we wish.." avers their petition.

Rights of children

An NGO called "Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP)" is championing the cause of these grandparents. Mr. Kumar Jahgirdar, president of this NGO (incidentally, he is the ex-husband of the wife of cricketer Anil Kumble) was lamenting, "The husband and wife who are seeking divorce spend several years in litigation over the child custody. But nobody thinks of the rights of the children. It beats me as to why the children and their grandparents should be made to suffer on account of the quarrel between husband and wife."