There is an unfolding tragedy in Norway where a five-year-old Indian child has been forcibly taken away from his parents, one of whom is an Indian citizen, by Barnevernet, the Norwegian Child Protection Agency (CPA). Fortunately, this has led to a welcome, swift response from the Government of India, specifically the Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. India’s Ambassador to Norway has been asked by the minister to take up the issue with the Norwegian authorities and provide help to the family. According to reports, the father of the child is a leading member of the BJP’s overseas organisation. In Delhi, BJP leader Vijay Jolly, contacted by the traumatized family, has represented the case to the Norwegian authorities in India and is following up on the issue to reunite the child with his family.
Many of us reading of the case in the papers have written to the minister to directly speak to her counterpart in Norway and also at the highest level. It will be more effective in bringing urgency to the issue rather than relying on the usual bureaucratic procedures. This is because of our past experience in dealing with the officials in the CPA in Norway, on the Bhattacharya children case, which led us to believe that the Child Protection Agency in that country should be more appropriately termed the Child Snatching Agency (CSA) and referred to as such.
Leave a Reply