An edited version of this article by Sagarika Chakraborty was first published in March 2023 in the Indian Express under the title ‘Sagarika Chakraborty, the real-life Mrs Chatterjee of ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’, writes: Don’t dismiss it as fiction, I lived this story‘
On the release of Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, with its shocking tale of systemic cultural prejudice and brutality of Norway’s child protection services, instead of reaching out to an Indian lady who said she had been wronged by Norway, the Norwegian Ambassador to India, Hans Jacob Frydenlund, went on a campaign against the film. He wrote editorials calling it “fiction” and gave interviews in the press rubbishing the film while at the same time saying he did not know the facts of the case. The good thing is that this gave Sagarika the chance to respond in the serious pages of the press. Until Ambassador Frydenlund had stirred up the controversy, her story was confined to the Entertainment section. For the next three weeks a robust debate ensued in the Indian papers that left the Norwegian Ambassador and Norway looking very bad indeed. A few months later Hans Jacob Frydenlund was quietly replaced by someone else as Ambassador to India.
Twelve years ago, my two-year-old son and five-month-old daughter were snatched by Norway’s child agency, Barnevernet. They made all kinds of accusations about me. They provoked my husband and in-law family to make statements against me. Under pressure from the Indian Government, Barnevernet returned my children to India in the care of my brother-in-law, even though he was just a twenty-six-year-old bachelor.
I fought back. I went to the Indian authorities, and submitted myself to evaluation.
I proved myself. The Indian child welfare committee found me to be a fit mother. Its order was confirmed by the Kolkata High Court. The children have now been with me for ten years. The world can see how well they are doing.
But even though I have proven myself in every way, the Norwegian officials continue to malign me.
The Norwegian Ambassador has said that children are not taken away in his country for hand-feeding or co-sleeping. But Barnevernet’s own report of the time says that my son “does not have his own bed” and I was “forced feeding”. It says that things are better in foster care because “Previously he had to be fed, but now he eats by himself” and “He now sleeps in his own bed in his own room”. If these are not the reasons, then why are they mentioned?
Barnevernet accused me of being violent against my husband when I shouted at him for not doing enough to save our children when care workers threatened to take them away.
This accusation of me being violent was so absurd that when we first appealed against the removal of our children, the County Committee said that the babies should be returned to us. The County Committee said “The mother was frightened when she understood that the Child Welfare Services might place the children away from the home.” The County Committee ruled that there was no emergency situation before the care workers came to our home and the problem only arose only after of their threats about the children.
We thought we had won, but Barnevernet went behind our backs and got a stay order from the Stavanger District Court. The Court said that the removal of the children was correct because I had “screamed and howled” when case workers said they were taking away custody of the children. The explanation that I was reacting to the threats of the care workers was rejected by the Court saying even though my behaviour was a reaction to the understanding that Barnevernet could place the children outside the home, it was still right to have kept them away as my reaction was “incompatible with the care of small children”.
The Norwegian Ambassador has written that “a mother’s love in Norway is no different from a mother’s love in India.” But here my mother’s love, which came out in the anguish at the thought of losing my children forever, was used as a reason to take my children away.
Barnevernet called me violent based on my husband’s claims. Norway claims to be a feminist country. Is it feminism to take action against a woman based solely on her husband’s words? It was I who needed support against my husband and in-laws, but Barnevernet and the Norwegian courts sided with my oppressors.
After the Indian courts restored my children to me, I qualified in computer engineering and business management. I have been working for several years in different multinational software companies. I provide for my children all by myself, as my husband does not send anything for us. Yet Barnevernet had called me mentally unfit. Can a mentally unfit person meet all these challenges?
All I can say is that Truth will Triumph.
This article was written by Sagarika Chakraborty, the Bengali mother who famously lost and won her children back from Norway’s racist and cruel child services, Barnevernet.
The Norwegian Ambassador’s statements were reported below.
