Indian geoscientist's children confiscated by Norway's "child protection services"
The
two young children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, a geoscientist who is
working in Norway since 2007, were taken by Norwegian Child Welfare Services
and placed in foster care in May 2011, on grounds that the couple failed to
properly take care of them.
Traumatised by the prolonged separation from his
parents, the three-year-old son of Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya has stopped
speaking.
A collection of articles from a variety of media sources, 21 December 2011 --
Last uppdated May 25, 2012
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Tearful
Sagarika greets kids back from Norway
Kolkata. After nearly a year’s wait, a tearful Sagarika
Bhattacharya Wednesday got her two children back in her lap. The children had
returned to India from Norway the day before.
The two children, who were in foster care in Norway after they were separated
from their parents on grounds of alleged negligence, were brought to Kolkata
Tuesday.
Kolkata,
Pravasi Today, pravasitoday.com - April 25, 2012
Family
celebrates as kids return home from Norway
By
Soudhriti Bhabani
Kolkata. Manotosh Chakraborty, the maternal grandfather of toddlers Abhigyan (3)
and Aishwarya (1), was distributing rasogolla
since Tuesday morning. For him, happiness knew no bounds on this day.
He was excited as his grandchildren, who were
taken away from their parents by the Norwegian Child Welfare Service (CWS) last
year, arrived back home after spending almost a year in foster care in the
foreign land.
India Today, indiatoday.intoday.in - April 24, 2012
Norway
custody row: Father relieved, but says this past year took a toll on his family
The father of the kids
who were brought back from Norway, has said that the family had to go through a
lot of pressure during the trial, and that he will come to India soon to meet
his children.
NDTV, ndtv.com - April 24, 2012
Norway
custody row ends; children arrive in India
After spending nearly a
year in foster care in Norway, toddlers Abhigyan and Aishwarya are back in
India. They arrived at the Delhi airport a little before 10 am today with their
uncle, Arunabhas Bhattacharya; they are expected to leave for Kolkata tomorrow.
The children's paternal grandparents received them at the airport.
NDTV, ndtv.com - April 24, 2012
Norway
court gives custody of two children to their uncle
A Norwegian court has
ruled that the custody of two children of an NRI couple will be handed over to
the children's uncle. Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya have fought a long legal
battle with Norwegian authorities to get three-year-old Abhigyan and
one-year-old Aishwarya back to the family. During the hearing in the case
involving two Indian children, which was held in Stavanger District Court on
April 17, the Child Welfare Services (CWS) and the children's parents and the
uncle submitted a joint statement to the court stating that they agreed to the
solution that the children's uncle would be their guardian.
NDTV, ndtv.com - April 23, 2012
Norway custody row: Court
verdict on children likely today
Reported by Noopur Tiwari
Stavanger: Will
the children of the NRI couple, engaged in a custody battle in Norway, return
to their homeland? After several twists and turns in the case, a Norwegian
court is expected to deliver its verdict today.
NDTV, ndtv.com - April 23, 2012
PM
talks to Norway counterpart about custody row, stresses strong family values
Seoul: Dr Manmohan Singh has told the prime minister of Norway that he
hopes there will be "a positive outcome" for the Indian parents fighting
to bring their children back home from there. Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya
have been trying their best to convince Norwegian officials that their young
son and daughter should be released from foster care. Aishwarya (1) and
Abhigyan (3) were taken away by child welfare officials in Norway who said the
Bhattacharyas were negligent parents. Anurup was posted as a geologist in
Stavager. His family's visas, and his own, expire this month
NDTV, ndtv.com - March 26, 2012
Norway can learn from Oprah’s visit to India
By
V. Balachandran
V.
Balachandran is a former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat. is a former
Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat.
Two contrasting examples of sensitivity to underdeveloped nations' cultural and
family milieu were found this month. One was during talk show queen Oprah
Winfrey's visit to India. The other was about two Indian infants who were taken
away from their biological parents by the Norwegian child protection unit
"Barnevenet". Although the infants were removed in May 2011, the
heart wrenching case came to our attention in January 2012 through our visual
media.
The Sunday Guardian, sunday-guardian.com - March 18, 2012
Documents will reach Norway
next week
Special
Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Team of officers to hand over papers in person to prevent
delay, says Brinda Karat
The External Affairs Ministry has said all documents required to seek handing
over the custody of two Indian children, now growing up in the Child Protection
Services in Stavanger (Norway), would be submitted to the authorities early
next week.
March
11, 2012
More
inquisition in Europe Sri Lankan, Polish, Russian, Turkish, and other children
are targeted
Av Vlad
Gladkikh
The
Marios say their children were taken away by Child Welfare Services
Even as Indian couple Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya anxiously await the
verdict of a district court in Norway on the question of the custody of their
children, a Sri Lankan family is facing a similar situation in the country.
The Hindu newspaper, burubaxair.wordpress.com - March 7, 2012
After Indian couple, Sri Lankan parents face similar
plight in Norway
By Ananya Dutta
KOLKATA. The Marios say their children were taken away by
Child Welfare Services
Even as Indian couple Anurup and
Sagarika Bhattacharya anxiously await the verdict of a district court in Norway
on the question of the custody of their children, a Sri Lankan family is facing
a similar situation in the country.
The Hindu, thehindu.com
March 7, 2012
Meet
the man who took away Indian kids in Norway
Much to the relief of Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, child welfare
officials in Norway have decided that they will recommend in court that the
couple's children, who have been in foster care since May last year, now be
placed in the custody of their uncle, Arunabhas Bhattacharya. One-year-old
Aishwarya and three-year-old Abhigyan were taken away from their home after
local child welfare officials decided that the parents were negligent. The man
who took the kids away, Gunnar Toresen, tells NDTV that Norway "acted in
the children's interest."
NDTV, ndtv.com - February 29, 2012
Norway
custody row: 'It was a test for me, did it for my family,' says children's
uncle
Much to the relief of NRI couple Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, child
welfare officials in Norway have decided that they will recommend in court that
Aishwarya and Abhigyan be placed in the custody of their uncle, Arunabhas
Bhattacharya. Talking to NDTV after the decision was announced, an elated Mr
Bhattacharya said, "It is a very happy moment for all of us. It feels as
if I have passed the exam."
New Delhi TV, ndtv.com - February 29, 2012
Norway row: Family’s cry
turns chorus
By Jayashree Nandi
NEW
DELHI: National outrage over the separation of an Indian family by a government
agency in Norway
poured out on the street in Chanakyapuri on Monday. As the grandparents of Abhigyan
and Aishwarya Bhattacharya, separated from their parents since last May, began
their four-day sitin protest near the Norwegian embassy, common citizens and
political leaders alike joined them to express solidarity.
Times of India, timesofindia.indiatimes.com - Feb 28, 2012
Relief for NRI couple in Norway; uncle to get
custody of children
In a big diplomatic win for India, the Child Welfare
Services (CWS) of Norway has recommended that the custody of two children of
the Indian couple, Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, should be given to the
uncle, Arunabhash Bhattacharya. This proposed solution will be presented to
Stavanger District Court on March 23, which will take the final decision in the
case.
NDTV,
ndtv.com - February 28, 2012
Norway custody row: Krishna assures family
The Bhattacharya family's battle to get the custody of
their children in Norway seems to be getting longer. The family was hoping that
India's special envoy's presence in Norway will bring one-year-old Aishwarya
and three-year-old Abhigyan to their parents Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya
sooner. But that is not going to happen.
New Delhi
TV, ndtv.com - February 28, 2012
Norway custody row: More talks, no action?
The Bhattacharya family's battle to get the custody of
their children in Norway seems to be getting longer. The family was hoping that
India's special envoy's presence in Norway will bring one-year-old Aishwarya
and three-year-old Abhigyan to their parents Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya
sooner. But that is not going to happen.
NDTV, ndtv.com - February 28, 2012
Norway custody row: Trauma in the name of child rights?
An Indian couple, Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya,
whose children were forcibly put in a foster home in Norway, may finally see an
end to the custody row today. A final meeting is scheduled to take place in Stavanger
between the Norwegian authorities, the uncle of the two children and
representatives of the Indian government. Sources say that a final decision
regarding the future course of action may be taken in this meeting today.
NDTV, ndtv.com - February 27, 2012
What
does Gunnar Toresen know about children?
By Suranya Aiyar
Much has been made of the differences between Indian
and western parenting in the wake of the removal of two small children from
their Indian family in Norway by the Norwegian Child Welfare Service. But there
is something more invidious than racism at work here?
The children were two and a half and four months old at the time of their removal
to foster care. Observe any mother with children, babies rather, of this age,
and you will see that the mother is the centre of a small child’s world. For a
young breast-fed infant of the age of four months, as was Aishwarya, the mother
is almost her entire world. That is how infants and toddlers experience the
world. So let us, first and foremost bring to centre stage this very un-adult,
unscientific, but immutable truth of a baby’s reality before we start to speak
of its rights.
Kafila, kafila.org February 26, 2012
Norway
keeps parents on tenterhooks with moves to keep back children
By Vaiju Naravane, PARIS
‘We hope to clarify what follow-up measures can be implemented to safeguard the
children's health by the middle of March'
As Indian authorities made moves to prevent the Norwegian government from
extending the visas of two Indian children placed in care so that they could be
retained in Norway even after their parents return to India, officials in
Stavanger refused to confirm or deny whether they had indeed sought to extend
the visas of the children.
February
23, 2012
Norway
Custody row: Foster homes - Child welfare or lucrative business?
By Noopur Tiwari
Oslo: As
the Bhattacharyas wait for Norway to take a decision on the return their children
to India, more people are speaking out against the foster care system in
Norway. Activists say a very large number of children are taken away from their
families every year and many expats lose their children forever because they
are not as lucky as the Bhattacharyas to get the state's intervention.
NDTV, ndtv.com - February 23, 2012
Norwegian nightmare: State-sponsored child
protection racket
By Namita
Bhandare
Has there been anything more outrageous, cruel and
insensitive than the Norway kids case? Dark as a Scandinavian winter, this
unbelievable story shows no sign of ending soon.
On February 15, three weeks after the ministry of external affairs reached an
understanding with the Norwegian government for custody of the minor Indian
children, currently in separate foster homes, to be handed over to their
paternal uncle, the ministry summoned Norway’s ambassador to India to express
its concern about the delay in handing over the children.
Hindustan Times, hindustantimes.com - February 21, 2012
Norway custody row: 'They watched us as we
met our children'
NDTV Correspondent
Stavanger, Norway:
Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya met their children after three months on
Friday. For about an hour and five minutes it was family time as usual. They
held the toddlers, fed them and played with them. Then, it was time to go. For
the Bhattacharyas are allowed to meet their children only once in three months.
NDTV, ndtv.com - February 18, 2012
Norway
is guilty of violating law which has global sanctity
By
Anil Malhotra
Norwegian
authorities illegally took away two young children, both holders of Indian passports,
from their Indian parents. Sadly, the Indian mission did nothing
Barnevarne, a child care service of Norway, took custody of Indian
children, Abhigyan and Aishwarya, from their natural parents, Anurup and
Sagarika Bhattacharya, in May 2011, when they were two and a half years and six
months old respectively, and lodged them in separate foster homes. They charged
the mother Sagarika with “negligence and being unable to bring up” the
children. A Norwegian court had ruled that the two children would stay in two
different foster homes until the age of 18 and their natural parents would be
allowed to meet them only once a year for one hour. Shockingly, the court added
that only if the couple separated, the custody of the children could be given
to the natural father who is employed as a geo-scientist in Norway since 2007.
Daily Pioneer,
dailypioneer.com - 1 February 2012
Family still waiting for official word in
kids' custody case
By Ananya Dutta
KOLKATA: Days after the news came in that it was only
a matter of time before three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, who
were taken away from their parents and put into foster care by the Norwegian
Childcare Services last year, are returned to the family, their grandparents
are still awaiting official word on when they may be brought back.
The Hindu, thehindu.com - Jan 30, 2012
The iron hand that rocks the cradle
By Marianne Haslev Skånland
I must compliment Indian newspapers, not least The
Hindu, for giving a thorough coverage to the case of the Indian couple
deprived of their children by the Norwegian ‘child protection services' (CPS).
Very many of the comments to the articles, too, are exactly to the point. But
you all need to know that this is the way the Scandinavian CPS carries on in
general. Sweden is actually the worst of the Scandinavian countries.
thehindu.com - 30 January 2012
Reunion with kids soon for Norway NRI couple
By Indrani Bagchi & Debashis Konar
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: The harrowing story of two Indian
children taken away from their parents in Norway moved towards a happy ending
on Wednesday, with the Indian and Norwegian governments closing in on a
solution that upholds Norwegian laws while meeting the expectations of the
parents.
Dr Arunabhas Bhattacharya, the paternal uncle of the children, Abhigyan (3) and
Aishwarya (1), may be accepted as the primary caregiver if the parents nominate
him, and if the 27-year-old bachelor is acceptable to the district court where
an appeal is pending. Arunabhas may have to be in Norway for a while for the
kids to get accustomed to him.
Times of India, timesofindia.indiatimes.com - Jan
26, 2012
Norway agrees to hand
over children to their uncle
By Aarti Dhar
There is good news for the family of the two Indian
children who are in the custody of the Norwegian Child Welfare Services on grounds
of “emotional disconnect” with their parents — authorities of that country have
agreed to hand over the children to their uncle and he will be their “primary
caregiver and give them an upbringing that meets their needs.”
The agreement has been accepted by the family, but their physical handing over
will still take some time.
thehindu.com - 25 January 2012
India
and Norway in diplomatic spat over children taken into care
By Dean Nelson
New Delhi: India and
Norway are embroiled in a diplomatic row after Norwegian social workers took
two young Indian children into care because they slept with their parents and
their mother fed them with her fingers – both widespread and normal in India.
The Telegraph,
telegraph.co.uk - 24 Jan 2012
Editorial
We've
always maintained that Indians know more about the world than the world knows
about Indians. Case in point: if some busy body here finds a Norwegian couple
making their children eat their meals with a knife and fork and - horror of
horrors! - have toddlers sleeping in the next room in an ergonomically designed
cot, there won't be any problem. Barring some aunty-jis making disapproving
noises about older Norwegians snogging in their living rooms in India without
drawing the curtains, such cultural nuances will be considered as, well,
'Norwegian' or 'European' and that will be that.
Hindustan Times, hindustantimes.com -
January 24, 2012
India to take up
child custody dispute with Norway
BBC News article
India says it will try
to seek an "amicable" solution to a controversial child custody case
in Norway.
BBC, bbc.co.uk - 23 January 2012
Indian
couple have children taken away by Norwegian social workers because they fed
them with their hands
By David Gerges
Authorities also
complained that the parents should not be sleeping in the same bed as their
infants
The Daily Mail,
dailymail.co.uk - 19th January 2012
Rally
for release of kids taken away in Norway
TNN
KOLKATA: The city of
processions is going to witness a rally with a difference on Monday. The
procession - a non-political one - will be taken out to demand the release of
two Indian children from a Norwegian agency
Times of India, timesofindia.indiatimes.com - Jan 9, 2012
Separating
kids from parents unjustified: India tells Norway
Norway
News
Issuing a strong
demarche to Norway, the second in nearly a week, India has said that its
actions of separating two children from an NRI couple was unjustified. The
government emphasised that the children be allowed to return to India so that
they can be brought up in familiar surroundings under the loving care of their
extended family. The Ministry of External Affairs yesterday issued
"strong" demarches to the Norwegian embassy here voicing concern that
the circumstances prevailing in this case may not justify an extreme step like
long-term separation from natural parents.
Norway
News, norwaynews.com -
06.01.2012
MEA:
Release kids from foster homes
The Indian External
Affairs Ministry has expressed serious concern over the separation of two
children from their Indian parents in Norway after the kids were taken away by
the Nordic nation's child welfare service citing incapability of their parents
to take care of them.
Times of India, timesnow.tv - 31 Dec 2011
India prods
Norway over NRI children custody
New Delhi, Dec 30: The Indian External Affairs Ministry has expressed
serious concern over the separation of two children from their Indian parents
in Norway after the kids were taken away by the Nordic nation's child welfare
service citing incapability of their parents to take care of them.
newKerala, newkerala.com - December 30, 2011
Allow
Indian couple to bring back their children, Norway told
Press Trust Of India
India has conveyed its
"serious concerns" to Norway over separation of two children from
their Indian parents there and insisted that the kids should be allowed to
return with the couple in case they decide to come back home.
New Delhi, Hindustan Times, hindustantimes.com - December 30, 2011
MEA
appeals Norway to return Indian couple its kids
New Delhi. India has
appealed to Norway to return the Indian couple its two children, taken away by
a Norwegian agency on the pretext of poor parental care, saying that it was a
case of cultural differences.
India Today, indiatoday.intoday.in - December 30, 2011
Norwegian
couple at Mamata door to be reunited with kids
Srinivas D (Norway, Oslo)
Forum discussion - 29
Dec, 2011
Mamata
extends help to Indian couple in Norway
By
Debashis Konar
KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has taken an active role to help the
Indian couple, Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, in Norway, whose children are
in the custody of a Norwegian child care agency since May.
TNN, Times of India, timesofindia.indiatimes.com - Dec 27, 2011
Norway:
Indian couple fights for kids' custody
New Delhi: A diplomatic
tiff is brewing with Norway ignoring the Indian Foreign Ministry's requests to
look sympathetically into the case of an NRI couple whose children were taken
away by Norway's childcare services in May.
India News,
IBNLive, ibnlive.in.com - Dec 24, 2011
Norwegian
agency takes away kids from Indian couple on pretext of their 'emotional
disconnect'
An Indian couple in
Norway has accused a government agency in the European country of taking away
its children.
The couple -- Anurup Bhattacharya and his wife Sagarika -- has been fighting to
get their children back since May 11, 2011.
India Today,
indiatoday.intoday.in - December 21, 2011
Norway
splits Indian family
Live video interview
with Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya
Child protection
services take away kids of Anurup Bhattacharya saying the kids do not have an
emotional connect with their mother.
Headlines Today, India Today, indiatoday.intoday.in - December 21, 2011
The
Domenic Johansson Case: India's media awake
A collection of articles in Indian media, April 25, 2012 --
The
Dominic Johansson Case: Home schooled boy snatched from plane in Sweden
A series of articles in different
media, September 7, 2009 --
Stolen
by Swedish social services: Russian mother slams authorities for taking twins
Russia Today News Editorial, rt.com - 01 February, 2011
Daniel
Hammarberg's address: State of the Swedish Child Welfare
YouTube.com
The Madhouse: A Critical Look at
Swedish Society
By Daniel Hammarberg
By Ruby Harrold-Claesson
By Sven Hessle
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