Norway accepts Krishna's proposal; kids to return to India

[caption id=“attachment_193638” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“CNNIBN”]  [/caption] Eight months after Norwegian authorities took two Indian children into their custody after the parents were deemed unfit to take care of them, Norway today accepted the proposal placed by Indian Foreign Minister to place the children under the supervision of a nominated caregiver. The Indian government will have to stand guarantor for any custody agreement that is reached. The two children were seperated from their parents and placed in foster care after the authorities said they were over-fed and diplayed emotional disconnect with their parents. The parents are named Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya. Anurup’s brother, Arunabhas, who lives in Kolkata, is likely to be made the formal custodian of three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya. The authorities intervened after reports that the Bhattacharyas’ son, three-year-old Abhigyan, displayed erratic behaviour at school. Officials objected to Abhigyan and his one-year-old sister, Aishwarya, sleeping in the same bed as their parents, and being fed by hand. This, they said, amounted to force-feeding. Following the news of separation there was major hue and cry across the country which cited cultural ignorance on part of the Norwegian authorities. Earlier on the weekend, Sagarika Bhattacharya’s parents met President Pratibha Patil to seek her assistance.  Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna met Norwegian diplomats in Delhi on Tuesday and sought their cooperation. He also stressed the need for the children to be in an environment that is  culturally and linguistically comfortable for them. The Bhattacharyas’ visas for Norway expire in March.  After that, fighting a legal battle there will prove to be extremely tough, they say. Meanwhile the Norwegian authorities have maintained that the decision to send the kids to foster care was taken after months of observation and was not a knee-jerk reaction resulting from cultural insensitivity. The authorities have legal backing to intervene if they feel a child’s health and development requirements are not being met at home. Its list of complaints against the parents was long. It said it had “severe doubts” about the parents’ ability to take care of their children. Its main concern was that the mother did not maintain the children’s emotional needs. The mother had admitted to slapping the son at one point, but the Child Welfare Service noted that this was something she had never done again after she became aware that it was illegal under Norwegian law. Further, it listed other reasons, such as the house not having sufficient room to play in, and toys that were not age-suitable for the children, the son not having his own bed, or linen or suitable clothes for his size, quoted the Norwegian weekly magazine Ny Tid. Norway maintains that its child protection laws apply to all children in the country, irrespective of nationality or cultural background.