NRI custody row: India rushes special envoy to Oslo

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) India has rushed a special envoy to Norway to convey the country's concerns in connection with the NRI (non-resident Indian) children's custody row who will meet the Norwegian Foreign Minister later today. Madhusudhan Ganapathi, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, has been tasked to once again take up the matter and convey the government's views on the issue to the Norwegian authorities, official sources said. Ganapathi is scheduled to meet Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store to convey India's concerns over the matter involving one-year-old Aishwarya and three-year-old Abhigyan who were taken away by Norway's child welfare officials from the NRI Indian couple in May last year and placed in foster care. The kids' parents, Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, were accused of negligence by the officials. India has been exerting pressure on Norway to find an amicable solution to the problem maintaining that the children were neither orphans nor stateless and that they enjoyed the protection of the Indian state. India had said that it would make "all out" efforts to ensure early return of the two Indian children from Norway following attempts by authorities of that country to keep them in foster care after expiry of their visa next month. Norwegian childcare authorities had recently agreed to hand over the custody of the children to their Kolkata-based uncle Arunabhash, who is currently in Oslo. But the Norwegian Childcare Services had last week said it will take a decision by early March on whether the custody of the children can be awarded to their uncle. Meanwhile, family members of the parents of two Indian children along with leaders of political parties today launched a four-day protest in New Delhi demanding that the Norwegian government send the kids back to India immediately. Grandparents of the two children, other family members, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Brinda Karat and CPI leader Annie Raja held a sit-in near the Norwegian embassy here. The leaders expressed solidarity with the family members and said they would raise the issue when the Budget Session of Parliament convenes on March 12. "We want our children back home. This is our only demand. Their visas are expiring on March 8. They should be brought back before that. We demand that the Norwegian government should not delay the process and send our children back soon," Manatosh Chakraborty, the grandfather of the kids, said. Holding placards which read 'Norway Send the Children Home', the family members were also joined by students of Springdales School in the capital. PTI