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16 October 2012Suranya Aiyar, Lawyer & critic of foreign confiscatory child care regimes
At Press Conference held on 12 October 2012 at the Women’s Press Club, New Delhi*Good Afternoon. Thank you for coming to our launch. I am the co-ordinator of this campaign. I am a lawyer, but my vocation - is motherhood. I have two little children – 3 ½ and 1 years old. My involvement in this campaign is first and foremost - a defence of my turf as a mother.
We will have the honour of being addressed today - by a distinguished panel of speakers.
Justice AP Shah - retired as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. In the course of his career he delivered many bold judgments - upholding human rights for women prisoners and their children and disabled access to public transport. He became a hero for human rights activists with his imaginative defence of gay rights - in reading down certain archaic homophobic laws -in the Indian criminal code.
Justice Mukul Mudgal - became an institution in himself - in the Delhi High Court before being appointed Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court - from where he retired. In the course of his career - he has championed prison reform, environmental rights and gender justice. He comes from a family of distinguished classical musicians. And though he chose the more prosaic path of the law, he has brought to his judgments much of the verve and flourish of his artistic heritage.
The indomitable Brinda Karat - needs no introduction. Having completed her last term as a
Rajya Sabha MP, the lion is now unleashed on the world! Mrs Karat has been one of India’s most effective advocates - for women’s rights. Her latest triumph - has been the passage of an Act in parliament - to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. It was Mrs Karat - who brought the plight of Indian children - confiscated in foreign care proceedings to the national attention. And she was instrumental - in the return of two children earlier this year - who had been confiscated by authorities in Norway.
I will begin with a few words on our campaign.
It is said - ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. Something of the kind - seems to have happened - with child protection - in the developed world. There are questions - about whether State confiscation of children - is at all the right response - to abuse or neglect in the family. There are questions - about whether - it is sound public policy - to make the State responsible - for pre-empting abuse and violence in the family. There are questions - about whether it is the duty of the State - to manufacture new families for children - when the biological family - is in trouble. These are complex issues.
But right now the problem is simple and obvious. We have - in these countries - a system that operates contrary - to every principle of the rule of law. That flies in the face - of centuries of experience - with what happens - when public power is unchecked.
• Children are being snatched from their families - for no good reason at all.
• Parents are condemned as unfit - on the flimsiest of grounds.
• There is no presumption of innocence - until guilt is proven.
• There is no due process.
• There are no safeguards against conflicts of interest.
• Confidentiality laws are only protecting care workers and judges - from being accountable.
• Worst of all - is the disregard - of filial love - when assessing family situations.
• Siblings are separated and sent to different homes.
• Children are fast tracked to adoption - so that even if their parents - eventually win in court,- they cannot be united with their children.
*After children,- the greatest victims of this system - are mothers. Since she is typically the main care giver,- in almost every confiscation - the mother is blamed.
• Her handling of her children - is subjected to an inquisition - out of which - it is almost impossible - for anyone to emerge innocent.
• She is subjected to investigation - in her home,- her kitchen, - her nursery and - her bedroom.
• She is vulnerable to attack from the very people - she relies on most - in raising her children –--- her kids’ doctors and teachers. All are potential informers - against her.
• If she should crack- under the strain of the accusations. If she should lose her temper- or break down in tears,- she is immediately condemned - as being temperamentally unfit -to raise her own children.
**There is no child protection here. Only folly - and inhumanity. India must speak out - against this humanitarian crisis.
We will endeavour - to make our campaign - reach all the countries of South Asia and beyond. Already - there are reports of other governments taking up the cause. The Slovakian government has threatened to take the UK to court for snatching children of Slovak citizens in England.
I am delighted that we have here in the audience representatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Brunei, Russia & Slovakia. Like-minded peoples around the world must join hands in this cause.
So far as Indian children are concerned, - our petition to the National Human Rights Commission - sets out the legal basis - on which these children can be returned - to their relatives in India. These children have a right of return to India - under international treaties to which most countries of the world are party. And having made such a robust intervention in the Norway case,- the Government is constitutionally bound by its duty to act equally in equal cases - to similarly intervene in the case of other families facing confiscatory care proceedings abroad. Our petition asks the National Human Rights Commission to recommend that instead of leaving people to rely on ad hoc intervention,- the Government institutes a formal and transparent mechanism - for intervention in these cases.
Thank you.
*
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