Peaceful protests by Indians in Germany demanding the return of baby girl Ariha

Despite heavy rain, the Indian community in Frankfurt held a peaceful protest and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rescue a two-year-old Indian child who has been living in foster care in Berlin for over 20 months. The community demanded the repatriation of Ariah Shah, who has been living in foster care since September 23, 2021, after German authorities accused the parents, Dhara and Bhavesh Shah, of abusing the child. Holding banners and placards reading ‘Arisha is Indian’, the crowd was seen chanting, “Modiji save Ariha!” In a video tweeted on Saturday by Save Ariha, a worldwide campaign run by volunteers for the child’s return to India. The tweet shared with the video said, “Today, the Indian community in Frankfurt, Germany protested against the injustice meted out to Indian baby girl Ariha in Germany.” The tweet said, “Despite heavy rain, they stood firm demanding @PMOIndia to bring back Ariha Shah…Modiji save Ariha! Ariha is Indian.” Last month, Berlin’s Pankow local court handed custody of Ariha to the German state, rejecting the parents’ argument that their child’s injuries were “accidental”. Reacting to the decision, Ariha’s parents said that they have full faith that Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will bring their child back to India. “Starting today, we hand over Ariha to 140 crore Indians,” the parents said in a statement. Describing it as a “very delicate matter”, Jaishankar had raised the issue in December 2022 during wide-ranging discussions with his German counterpart Annalena Bierbock. “We are concerned that the child should live in his/her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment. , “Jaishankar said at a joint media briefing. Over 50 MPs from 19 political parties, including Shashi Tharoor, Maneka Gandhi, Mahua Moitra, K. Kanimozhi and others, wrote a joint letter to German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann in New Delhi. Sent, urging him to make all necessary efforts to facilitate his repatriation. Ariha to come to India as soon as possible. According to estimates, Indians constitute about 0.2 percent of the German population and by 2023, two lakh Indians will live in the country .