Govt eats its words on Norway

Anurup Bhattacharya,father of the two children—Abhigyan (3) and Aishwarya (1)—has reportedly filed for legal separation from his wife Sagarika. He has alleged that he was being repeatedly beaten by his wife. The children are in the care of Norway’s Child Welfare Services.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said,“At this point,the version we are getting has changed. We are relying on our embassy to contact everybody for a more substantive report. But there are also elements of this,which is within the family. I think it would be best for the government not to step in and make comments on what the family is doing.”

For the last three months,however,South Block was doing exactly the opposite. It was playing to the gallery—driven by TV debates—as it lodged protests and demarches with the Norwegian government,issued frequent official statements,rushed a special envoy to Norway and summoned the Norwegian envoy in Delhi a couple of times. External Affairs minister S M Krishna even had a telephone conversation with his Norwegian counterpart.

Consider the following facts:

*Between December 24 and February 22,the Ministry of External Affairs issued as many as “six official statements”,which ranged from protests to a demarche to the Norwegian government on the issue. To put this number in perspective,it surpassed statements on China,Pakistan or even the US. The only other issues,which were comparable to MEA’s statements on this issue,were on the issue of the Italian navy personnel shooting down Indian fishermen and the political situation in Maldives.

*On December 24,the MEA said it would “monitor” the situation and the Indian embassy in Oslo would extend “all possible consular assistance” to Mr. Bhattacharya and his wife.” On December 30,MEA said that the Indian embassy had “vigorously pursued”,and a “démarche” had been made,in which the government’s “serious concerns” were conveyed.

*On January 5,strong demarches were made again and the government’s concerns about the long-term separation were expressed. On January 12,an Indian embassy official visited the foster family and the children.

*On January 21,the MEA again reiterated its concern for the children,who were being “deprived of the undoubted benefits” of being brought up in their own ethnic,religious cultural and linguistic milieu.

*On January 22,External Affairs minister S M Krishna spoke to Indian Ambassador R K Tyagi and asked him to impress upon the Norwegian government. On January 23,Krishna spoke with the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store and asked him to expedite the return of the children. The same day,he had summoned the Norwegian Charge de’ Affairs Aslak Brun and had conveyed the same to him as well.

*On February 15,the Norwegian Ambassador Anne Ollstad was summoned by Secretary (West) M Ganapathi and the need for an expeditious handing over of the child to the uncle was conveyed. He also emphasised the “priority attached” to the earliest possible resolution of this matter.

*On February 22,when the issue of Norwegian government seeking extension of the children’s visas came to light,the MEA came up with a rather strong statement that the children were “neither orphans nor stateless persons”. Norway said it was a mere technicality and they did not mean that the children were “stateless”.

*In the last week of February,when the grandparents sat on a protest demonstration outside the Norwegian embassy,CPM leader Brinda Karat and BJP’s Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj,visited them and raised the decibel level again. The grandparents even managed to met President Pratibha Patil and External Affairs minister,who once again assured them of early return of the children. BJP MP Tarun Vijay,at this point,even met the Norwegian ambassador in Delhi and gave her a teddy bear and chocolates to be delivered to the children in Norway.

*Secretary (West) M Ganapathi was then rushed to Norway,and spent two days meeting the concerned officials and trying to convince them of the early return.

All this while,the external affairs minister was making public statements and giving interviews,on a regular basis,on the issue.

Sources said South Block chose to ignore the reports by the Indian envoy in Norway R K Tyagi who had consistently raised the “red flag” on the case. He had briefed the officials in Delhi about the marital discord in the family and the factors that led to the children being taken away by the Child Welfare Services (CWS) in Stavanger. Sources said that South Block was making public statements keeping in mind the “populist” nature of the debate in domestic circles,and now that has been exposed after the marital discord within the family—one of the key reasons for the action taken by CWS — has come out in public.

Now,the Indian embassy in Oslo is trying to get the family members to sort out the issue. “The situation is changing as we speak. Therefore,I will hesitate to get to a categorical declaration. Details are being ascertained by the embassy in Oslo from all the parties concerned. They are in touch with the parents,the paternal uncle and the Stavanger Child Welfare Services. Once we get a detailed report,we will be able to provide some information. What happened this morning has changed to something different today afternoon,” Mathai said.