The Ministry of External Affairs said that “they have been persistently advocating for the return of Ariha Shah to India”.
The Ministry of External Affairs today assured the return of baby Ariha Shah – who has been separated from her parents for 21 months – from a foster care facility in Germany’s Berlin to India.
Germany’s Child Services took the baby girl, a little over 2 years old, away on suspicion that she was being assaulted by the parents. But despite criminal charges being dropped as far back as February 2022, she has not been reunited with her parents, who are all Indians.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that “they have been persistently advocating for the return of Ariha Shah to India”.
“Our efforts have been guided by the best interests of the child, which we believe can be fully realised only when she is in her home country where her socio-cultural rights can be safeguarded. Accordingly, we have been requesting Germany to return the child to India. The Embassy has repeatedly requested German authorities to ensure that Ariha’s connection with her cultural, religious and linguistic background is not compromised and sought consular access to the child as well as cultural immersion at the Indian Cultural Centre in Berlin,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.
“We urge the German authorities to do all that is necessary to send Ariha to India at the earliest, which is also her inalienable right as an Indian national. We remain committed to ensuring the return of Ariha Shah to India,” it added.
The statement comes after repeated requests by Ariha’s parents to seek a meeting with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. The parents have been constantly meeting officials in India to intervene.
Meanwhile, German authorities have told India Today TV that they are in close contact with the Indian embassy in Berlin.
This is not the only such case in Germany, Turkey, Poland, Romania, among other nations have been battling cases of their citizens who have lost their children in a similar manner. What has the Indian government done so far and where should a country draw the line on cultural differences is the question here.
Ariha’s distraught and emotional mother, Dhara Shah, remembered late External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj amid her struggle to get her child back.