Norway NRI kids: Brinda Karat meets Krishna

Senior Left leader Brinda Karat on Tuesday met External Affairs Minister SM Krishna in connection to the release of the children of a Bengali couple who were taken away by Norway's Childcare Services last year.

Karat reportedly urged Krishna to look into the matter.

She criticised the Norwegian authorities and said that the country has violated ´international laws´ by not releasing the children and keeping them in a foster home in Norway.

"How can a government keep Indian children in a foster home there? It is racist and illegal and violation of international laws,´ said Karat.

"Norway should hand them over to India immediately," she said.

The couple from Kolkata, Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, who are non resident Indian (NRI) citizens, have said that Norway's child protection service Barnevernet took away their two-and-a-half-year-old son Abhigyan and four-month-old daughter Aishwarya on May 11, last year.

The reason cited was that the couple were feeding the children with hands and making them sleep with them in the same bed.

On Nov 30, a court in Norway ruled that the two children will be placed in separate foster homes till they are 18, with their parents, who currently live in Stavangers city, being permitted to meet them only twice in a year for one hour at a time.

Earlier in Jan, the custody battle was solved when the Norwegian government decided to hand over the children to their uncle.