Prisons and forgotten childhoods

Thousands of children living with the consequences of their parent’s incarceration remain at the margins of every child-protection framework

Shrutika Pandey and Aishwarya Sinha

Updated At : 07:07 AM Jun 11, 2026 IST

IN a recent ruling, the Madras High Court dismissed a petition by the wife of a life convict seeking 21 days' leave for her husband so the couple could undergo fertility treatment. A child born to a life convict, the court reasoned, would grow up bearing the stigma of the parent's crime and the psychological harm society inflicts.

The Tribune, India’s oldest, daily English-language newspaper, was first published on February 2, 1881, in Lahore, and save for 40 days in the immediate aftermath of Partition, has come out every single day over the last 145 years. It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist of the time. It is run by a five-member Trust, whose Chairman is Shri N N Vohra, former J&K Governor; Justice S S Sodhi, former chief justice of the Allahabad High Court; Shri Gurbachan Jagat, former Governor of Manipur; Lt Gen. Shamsher Singh Mehta, former Western Army Commander; Shri Paramjit Singh Patwalia, senior advocate in the Supreme Court.

The Tribune is free, objective, and independent. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language, are the hallmarks of the paper.

The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).

Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia

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Prisons and forgotten childhoods

Thousands of children living with the consequences of their parent’s incarceration remain at the margins of every child-protection framework

Shrutika Pandey and Aishwarya Sinha

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