NEW DELHI: Around 59 members of Parliament (from 19 political parties) have written to the German Ambassador asking for the early repatriation of two-year-old Ariha Shah who has been under forced German foster care for over 20 months now.
The signatories include Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Shashi Tharoor, Mahua Moitra, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and Priyanka Chaturvedi amongst others.
The letter addressed to German Ambassador, Dr Phillip Ackerman, reads that though they respect German laws since there are no criminal cases against the parents, the child should be repatriated to India.
"Baby Ariha was taken away from her parents in September 2021 when she was seven months old by Jugendamt, German Child Services. This was after the child had suffered an accident and was hospitalised. An initial investigation had begun on allegations of child sexual abuse but this was found baseless and the case was closed in February 2022 without any charges being levelled against the parents."
"Following this, the child was shifted to special child care and then moved to foster care. As Members of Parliament, we have special responsibility for the welfare of our citizens. We request you to do whatever necessary to send the child back to India,’’ said the letter signed by Rajya Sabha MP Dr John Brittas on behalf of the other 58 MPs.
The German Ambassador refrained from making any comments on the letter.
The parents (Jain practitioners) of the child have raised objections to what the child has been fed in foster care – which is contrary to their culture and beliefs.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), too has said that they have been persistently advocating for the return of Ariha Shah to India.
"The child is an Indian national and was placed in the custody of Germany’s Youth Welfare Office on September 23rd, 2021. 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 sociocultural 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,’’ said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
"Unfortunately, our requests in this regard for safeguarding Ariha’s national and cultural identity have not been met,’’ Bagchi added.
India had raised this issue when German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, visited India.