Two Bengali (NRI) children- forcibly taken away by Norway

Jan. 23, 2012 - PRLog -- Two Bengali (NRI) children- forcibly taken away by Norway.  

Mr. Manotosh Chakrabortty and Mrs.Sikha Chaklrobortty Grandparents of two kids met President Of India, Mrs. Prativa Patil on yesterday 21st January,2012 at New Delhi to appeal for the release of their grandson Abhigyan (3) and Aiswarya (1) taken away by child protection authorities of NORWAY and put in foster homes on 11th May,2011. They almost collapsed crying before the President and has pleaded to contact the Norwegian King for their early release..

Earlier both Mr. & Mrs. Chakrabortty grandparents of the two kids were also meet Miss Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal in December, 2011. but of no solution except two letter of explanation sought from the Ministry of External Affairs to their counterpart in Norway.

These Bengali (NRI) couple is living in Norway as they continue to fight the battle to get their children back from the Norwegian government.

Two very young kids of the Couple Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharjee, were taken under protective care by a childcare agency and placed in foster care in May last year.

Anurup Bhattacharjya is a geoscincetist and has been working in Noway since 2007. Norwegian Child Welfare Services took the custody of the children on the grounds that the couple failed to care for them.

The matter went to court, which decided that the children will be placed in seopparate foster homes till they are 18. The parents are allowed to meet them only twice in a year for one hour at a time.

It is unclear on what grounds were the children taken away from the Indian couple by the Norway authorities. The couple cite cultural differences.

"They told me why are you sleeping with the children in the same bed. This is also a purely cultural issue. We never, leave the children in another room and say goodnight to them", says Anurup Bhattacharya.

Norway's Child Protective Service, called Barnevern, protects the rights of children living family situation.

In the meantime, India has conveyed its serious concerns" to Norway over separation of two children. Avigyan(3) and Aiswaraya(1), from their Indian Parents and insisted that the two kids should be allowed to return with the couple if they decide to come back home.

The Indian Embassy in Oslo has pursued the matter with the Norwegian embassy in New Delhi received a similar request from India's external affairs ministry.

Indian's serious concerns were conveyed regarding the need to take into account social and cultural traditions of the country to which the parents and the children belong before taking a decision to separate the children from the parents.

"It was also emphasized that if the parents decide to return to India then the children should be allowed to return with them as there could be no doubt that it would be in the long-term interest of the two Indian children as they would be brought up in the loving care of their extended family in India," the statement said.

As the children were Indian nationals, the Embassy has sought access to them to check on their welfare.

The children's visas expire in February. They said the couple fear that their children would not be allowed to return with them.

When (Anurup) father of the childrens visited the childcare agency along with his lawyer, he was asked to submit his passport along with the passports of his children. "They told me that it was my responsibility to get the visa of my children and so, I am not keen  on extending my visa. The officials then tried to force me to submit the passports," Anurup said.

It is worth to mention that, prior in several occasions UNO has criticized excess rigidness of this draconian Act. Out of only 44 lakhs total population more than 12000 childrens are kept in the Foster Care Center on the plea that their parents could not maintain them properly.

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