By IANS,
Kolkata : Days after External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said that India will make “all out” efforts to ensure the early return of two Indian children under foster care in Norway, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Sunday hoped the process would move faster.
“We are talking to the foreign ministry. They have limited authority over the judicial procedure of the child custody case… So we are hoping that the process moves more rapidly as the children are getting older each day,” Tharoor, a former junior foreign minister, said.
Incensed by Norway’s move to extend residence permits of two Indian children under foster care, Krishna Thursday said it would make “all out” efforts to ensure their early return and stressed that they must be given the opportunity to come to their country.
Krishna’s response came following a question on reports that Norwegian officials were trying to keep the children — one-year-old Aishwarya and three-year-old Abhigyan — there after their visas expire next month. The Norwegian authorities have on their own applied for a visa extension.
Abhigyan and Aishwarya, children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living in Stavanger, Norway, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) in May last year on grounds that they were not looked after properly by their parents.
An agreement was struck nearly a month ago between India and Norway under which the parents named Anurup’s brother Arunabhash Bhattacharya as the primary caretaker of the two children.
Asked about his opinion on the February 28 geenral strike, Tharoor echoed West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee in opposing it.
“You cannot make development and progress with strikes and shutdowns. If you want the country to progress, then you have to work. Strike creates a negative impact,” said Tharoor while to the media persons on the sidelines of a program in Kolkata.
Tharoor’s comment comes at a time when the general strike called by 11 central trade unions – including Congress-affiliated INTUC – has emerged as the latest political flashpoint in West Bengal. While the government is pulling out all stops to ensure it does not succeed, the opposition Left Front seems determined to extend it to a general shutdown.
The striking trade unions include the left labour arms CITU, AITUC, UTUC, AIUTUC, and Congress trade union wing INTUC, besides the BMS, HMS, TUCI and NLO, who have joined forces in support of a 10-point charter of demands.