Indian diaspora groups in Germany stage protest for baby Ariha Shah

London: Members of the Indian diaspora in Germany staged a protest in Frankfurt in an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help reunite baby Ariha Shah, currently in German state services custody, with her Indian parents.

Waving the Indian national flag and holding banners reading “Modiji Save Ariha!” and “Ariha is Indian”, the group braved the rain on Saturday to make an appeal for the two-year-old toddler to be returned to her parents Bhavesh and Dhara Shah.

The parents have been fighting for their daughter since September 2021, when the German authorities intervened amid allegations of harassment.

“Today, Indian community in Frankfurt, Germany held protests against the injustice happening with Indian baby Ariha in Germany,” said a tweet from the "Save Ariha" account, along with videos.

Today, Indian community in Frankfurt, Germany held protests to against the injustice happening with Indian baby Ariha in Germany.

Despite heavy rain, they stood strong, demanding repatriation of Ariha Shah and asking Hon @PMOIndia
'Modiji Save Ariha!' Ariha is Indian… pic.twitter.com/yeaDDoIUpZ

— Save Ariha (@voiceforariha) July 15, 2023

In December last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had raised the issue during discussions with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) addressed the matter again at a recent weekly briefing as an "important and sensitive" issue.

“The child is an Indian national and she was placed in the custody of Germany's Youth Welfare Office of the (Jugendamt) on 23rd September 2021, when she was seven months old. She has now been in foster care for more than 20 months,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a statement last month.

“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 socio-cultural rights can be safeguarded. Accordingly, we have been requesting Germany to return the child to India.

"Our Embassy has been repeatedly requesting German authorities to ensure that Ariha's connection with our cultural, religious and linguistic background is not compromised and has sought consular access to the child, as well as cultural immersion at the Indian Cultural Centre in Berlin,” he said.

However, the government's requests have not been met and the MEA said it was dismayed to learn that the child was abruptly shifted away from her current foster parent to a specialised foster care arrangement.

“Ariha's continued placement in German foster care and infringement of her social, cultural and linguistic rights is of deep concern to the government of India and to the parents. We would like to reiterate that Ariha Shah is an Indian national and her nationality and socio-cultural background is the most important determinant of where her foster care is to be provided.

"We urge German authorities to do all that is necessary to send Ariha to India at the earliest, which is also her inalienable right as an Indian national,” the MEA statement added.

A Change.Org petition calling for the baby’s repatriation to India has attracted nearly 60,000 signatures. It notes that Ariha, a Jain Gujarati baby girl, was born in Berlin while her father was posted in Germany on a work visa as a software engineer. The paternal grandmother accidentally injured the baby when the parents took her to hospital. They were later accused of sexual assault and the baby was removed from their custody.

While a criminal investigation was closed without charge in February last year, the baby is yet to be returned to the parents after Berlin Child Services filed a civil custody case.