Stavanger, Norway:
Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya met their children after three months on Friday. For about an hour and five minutes it was family time as usual. They held the toddlers, fed them and played with them. Then, it was time to go. For the Bhattacharyas are allowed to meet their children only once in three months.
Anurup, a geo-scientist, lives with his wife Sagarika in Stavanger, Norway. They last met their children in November. As parents and children met on Friday, officials of the Norwegian child welfare services kept a close watch through a two-way mirror; "We can't see but they monitor our actions...they watched us from a glass window," Mr Bhattacharya explained.
In November last year, a Norwegian court ordered that three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya would live in a foster home till they turned 18. The two children were taken away from their parents in May last year by the Norwegian child welfare services, who alleged that the Bhattacharyas had "an emotional disconnect" with their children and that this could be harmful for the children's safety and development.
After the court order, the Indian government intervened and the Norwegian authorities agreed to consider giving custody of the two children to their uncle, a dentist from Asansol in West Bengal, who has left his practice in India to stay in Stavanger till the children are allowed to return with him to India.
Arunabhas Bhattacharya is being made to attend regular sessions with the welfare service and psychologists. He is being taught how to take care of the children. He has been asked by the child welfare services not to stay at the house of his brother and sister-in-law, which has also promised to foot his hotel bill. Arunabhas will be granted the children's custody only after the authorities are sure that their upbringing will "meet with their needs." He too met the children on Friday.
It was a short, but happy reunion. "The meeting was really good. We saw that Abhigyan was quieter than before and Aishwarya was smiling after she saw us. Abhigyan sat on my lap and hugged me. It was the hug that we have been missing for the last three months. We got him some Indian food which he likes," Mr Bhattacharya said.
The Bhattacharyas say the children seem to be doing well. They did not cry when the parents left. But mother Sagarika was distraught. "I just hope Abhigyan and Aishwarya are given to my brother-in-law soon in India. We just want to see them again. We pray to God that we get our children as soon as possible," she said.
The parents feel their children are being held hostage. But the Norwegian authorities insist that their intention is only to secure a safe and comfortable environment for the children. "These children are my responsibility now, and I care for the children I have in custody. I want to do my utmost to make sure that they have a good life when they go back to India. I cannot do anything when they are there, but I can do something before that," says Gunnar Toresen who heads child welfare services in Stavanger.
The Norwegian body, unused to media and diplomatic attention at this level, is treading carefully. After the Indian government intervened in the case, it has become a high-profile one with the foreign offices of both countries involved. India on Wednesday summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Delhi seeking a speedy solution to the row. The External Affairs Ministry reportedly asked the envoy why the process of bringing the children together with their family was taking time. After the issue was raised, the foreign office in Norway has reportedly decided to expedite the process. India wants the children to be handed over to their uncle before their parents' visas expire in March.
The Bhattacharyas say "cultural misunderstandings" has caused this tale of separation. The Norwegian authorities, however, have categorically denied that cultural differences played a role in their decision to take the children away. They say they intervened after reports that Abhigyan displayed "erratic behavior" at school. They reportedly objected to the manner in which the children were being fed and made to sleep.
Sagarika says she feels "deeply wronged" and fails to understand how a foster family is better qualified to bring up her children. "Abhigyan is still banging his head on the ground and spitting on people's faces. So it is proved that he is not really improving a lot," she says.