March 2012.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

De ja vu Norway!
Aravindan Neelakandan
he Child Protection Agency (The
Barnevernet) of Norway has placed
Ttwo minor Indian nationals under its
protective custody after a Norwegian lower
court ruled in favour of The Barnevernet's
proposal. The main outlines of the decision
were as follows:
· The two minor Indian children (boy
born 12.10.08, girl born 04.12.10) shall
stay in two separate Norwegian foster
homes approved by the Barnevernet
until they reach 18 years of age; and
· The Indian parents shall have 1 hour
meeting for one time in a period of six
months – with their children
So what is the crime of the parents
The mother feeding the two year old girl by
hand and the four year old boy sleeping with
his father – these are the factors that have been
identified by the Barnevernet to separate the
children from their parents. The problem is not
restricted to the Indian parents there. The UN
has been criticizing Norway since 2003 for the
fact that too many children are in foster homes
and institutions.
Many people tend to think that Norway is way
ahead in implementing the rights of children.
But in reality Norway may well be in a time
warp of the colonial and medieval times.
There are instances in the history of Europe
where state and religious authorities have
separated children from their parents. It
happened as late as 1858. Historian David
Kertzer recounts:
In 1858, a six-year-old Jewish
child, Edgardo Mortara, was
kidnapped by papal police in
Bolognia on the pretext that he
had been baptized "in extremis" (
i.e. when in mortal danger) by a
servant girl six years earlier.
Placed in the reopened House of
Catacumens, the child was
Yuva bharati - 20 - March 2012