CPI(M) asks India to lodge protest with Norway

New Delhi: The CPI(M) on Saturday demanded that India lodge a strong protest with the Norwegian Government and make a strong case in support of the two Indian children, who have been separated from their parents, and bring them back to the country.

CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat today met President Pratibha Patil along with the grandparents of the children and explained to her the incident.

Karat said the President was shocked to hear the woes of the grandparents.

"She said she was shocked and sad that such a thing could happen. She promised to do whatever she could to help them," the CPI(M) leader told PTI.

India had last month conveyed its "serious concerns" to Norway on the issue and insisted that the kids be allowed to return with the couple in case they decide to come back home.

Children of Anurup Bhattacharya, a geoscientist who is working in Norway since 2007, were taken under protective care by Norwegian Child Welfare Services and placed in foster parental care on grounds that the couple failed to properly take care of them.

Reports say that the parents are worried over the fate of their children as their visas expire in February, 2012. They said the couple fear that their children would not be allowed to return with them.

In a letter written to Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, Karat said hand feeding the child or the boy child sleeping in the same bed as his father, was considered grounds of unacceptable behaviour.

"The cruelty can be gauged by the fact that the baby girl who was being breast fed was taken away from the mother. The mother was asked to go to the child centre every day to have the milk pumped out for the child but was not allowed to feed the child herself," she said.

"Unless the Government makes a strong case in support of the children being brought back to India, the Norwegian authorities are unlikely to change their views in the name of upholding the laws in their country," she said.

The children's grandparents who had rushed to Norway on hearing the news to get their custody were not entertained.