Let good sense prevail

"After a Norwegian court placed two toddlers in permanent foster care, their parents' plight has generated indignation in India and led to high-level diplomacy between Oslo and New Delhi. The parents have alleged the children's removal stems from a deep cultural bias. The Child Welfare Service (CWS) in Norway has consistently denied this, saying the children were removed for far serious reasons related to their delayed development."

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Let good sense prevail:  The strains of negotiating a foreign culture and environment are evident — both for the Bhattacharyas and for the Norwegian authorities — but the fact that the family needed assistance is undeniable. On its part, the CWS is not without blame. It has shown cultural insensitivity and made serious mistakes in handling the case.

This is no way, Norway

The case of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya — whose young children were placed in foster care by the Child Welfare Services in the Norwegian city of Stavanger — raises disturbing questions.

"If the charges go beyond overfeeding, not using cutlery and sleeping in the same bed — “crimes” every South Asian family is guilty of — what seems odd is the extreme and irrevocable nature of the solution proposed. The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : This is no way, Norway. Surely a ‘nanny state' which gives itself the right to send young children to foster care till they turn 18 should also provide counselling and support for those parents whose care is found wanting, establishing a clear and transparent road map for the family to be reunited as soon as possible?"

If this sad story is to have a happy ending, Stavanger authorities should consider inviting a child welfare expert from India!