New Delhi: Fifty-nine MPs from 19 political parties – including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Left, among others – have urged in a joint letter to the German ambassador in India to do everything possible from his side to ensure the return of an Indian child who has been placed in Germany’s child welfare custody from 2021 at the earliest.
In the letter addressed to the German envoy in India, Philipp Ackerman, both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs said it is important to bring back the child to India, “her own country, people, culture and environment”. They also noted that “any delay will cause irreparable harm to the baby”.
The Indian MPs’ letter comes a day after India’s ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, had told the media that the Indian embassy in Berlin has been “persistently advocating” for the return of the child, but India’s requests to safeguard the child’s national and cultural identity “have not been met”. India has been arguing that it is the child’s “inalienable right” as an Indian national to be allowed to unite with her parents in India.
The child’s parents, a Gujarati couple who had moved to Germany in 2018, had been fighting for custody of the baby girl for the last 21 months. The German authorities took over the custody of the child and placed her in foster care since September 23, 2021, after the child suffered an accidental injury. The child at the time was seven months old. The authorities in Germany alleged that the child’s parents had harassed her.
In their joint letter, the MPs said, “We, Members from both Houses of India’s Parliament, belonging to 19 political parties across the political spectrum are writing this joint letter to you with an urgent request regarding the repatriation to India of Ariha Shah, a two-year-old baby girl, a citizen of India as are her parents Dhara and Bhavesh Shah. The family was in Berlin as the baby’s father was employed in a company there. The family should have been back in India by now but for some tragic events.”
The signatories of the letter include Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, his party colleague Shashi Tharoor; BJP’s Hema Malini and Maneka Gandhi; DMK’s Kanimozhi; NCP’s Supriya Sule; TMC’s Mahua Moitra; SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav, RJD’s Manoj Jha; AAP’s Sanjay Singh; CPM’s Elamaran Kareem and John Brittas; Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal, BSP’s Kunwar Danish Ali; Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Priyanka Chaturvedi; CPI’s Binoy Viswam and National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah.
While pointing out that a police case registered against the parents was closed in February 2022 without any charges, the Indian lawmakers said that “it is more than time to send the baby back home”.
“We do not cast aspersions on any agency in your country and assume that whatever was done was thought to be in the best interests of the baby. We respect the legal procedures in your country, but given that there are no criminal cases pending against any member of the said family, it is more than time to send the baby back home,” they said.
The MPs also objected to the decision of the German authorities to shift the child to a special needs facility. “The case has taken over a year-and-a-half for an evaluation of the parents by a court-appointed psychologist. This was completed in December 2022. The court-appointed psychologist recommended that the child should be placed with either parent in a parent-and-child facility, with the other parent regularly visiting her. Even though this would be impractical as it would mean a prolonged stay in Germany, it is a recognition that the baby could be with her parents, under supervision. But, before court orders, the Jugendamt (German Child Services) removed the baby to a special needs facility,” the MPs pointed out.
Further, they said, “Ariha is not a special needs child. Shifting her around from one carer to another will cause deep and damaging trauma to the child. The parents are allowed only fortnightly visits. The videos of these meetings are heart-wrenching and they reveal the deep bonds the baby has with her parents and the pain of separation.”
Even MEA spokesperson, Bacghi, had referred to German authorities shifting the child from a particular foster parent to a specialised foster care, calling it “a matter of concern”.
The child’s continued placement in German foster care amounts to an “infringement of her social, cultural and linguistic rights” and this matter is of deep concern to the government of India and the parents, the MEA official had said.