Norway kids custody row: Grandparents meet S.M. Krishna

New Delhi, Feb 28 (ANI): The grandparents of children who were taken away by Norway 's Child Protection Services (CPS) in May 2011 and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Politburo leader Brinda Karat met External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna at his residence here on Tuesday.

xpressing satisfaction with the ministry's efforts, Karat said this is the first time that an envoy had been sent to deal with an individual case.

"We are committed and determined to bring back the children. Meetings in Norway are going good. The special envoy will come back on Wednesday. We have to wait till the envoy comes back with more details on the case," Karat told media here.

Special envoy Madhusudan Ganpathy was sent by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to Oslo to meet Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store to determine an expeditious solution to enable the an early return of the children to India.

Ganapathi also met Reidar Hjermann, Ombudsman for Children in Norway, and Norway's Minister of Children, Equality And Social Inclusion Audun Lysbakken in Oslo.

On Monday, the grandparents of the children staged a sit-in protest outside the Chanakyapuri police station after being denied permission to protest outside the Norwegian Embassy in Delhi.

They sat down with placards and photos of their grandchildren and shouted slogans against the Norwegian authorities.

"We are sitting here and are in a sit-in programme against Norway government. And our demand is return back to our children home. It is our only demand. It is by March 8, within March 8 they should have to return the baby," said Manatosh Chakraborty, the children's grandfather.

Three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya have been placed in the care of two different foster families in Norway. The authorities in Norway have said that the children were taken away, as their parents, Sagarika and Anurup, were not taking proper care of them.

The parents, however, said the authorities took exception to cultural differences such as sleeping with the children and breastfeeding the daughter at scheduled times as opposed to when she cried. (ANI)