More than a decade later, the Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway case remains very controversial, particularly since the truth behind it is so ambiguous.
Over ten years later, the Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway case is still controversial. The film is based on Sagarika Chakraborty's fight to regain custody of her children after they were taken from her by Norwegian Child Welfare Services in 2011, with Debika Chatterjee (Rani Mujerki) representing Chakraborty as a fearless mother adjusting to a new life with her husband and two young children in a foreign country. It alleges that due to typical Indian cultural norms, such as co-sleeping of children and parents and parents hand-feeding their children food, the Norwegian government decided that they were unfit and placed the children in foster care.
The film doesn't closely examine cultural differences beyond the most obvious, doesn't mention that one of Mrs. Chatterjee's children was autistic, and depicts Norway from a myopic perspective that deflects any wrongdoing by the real Mrs. Chatterjee. It's a feel-good movie that, while featuring strong performances and highlighting an important issue, makes the real case into a melodrama designed to tug at heartstrings. The case is not a black-and-white matter with clear-cut heroes and villains, and the truth remains that the diabolical depiction of the Norwegian government meant a response would be forthcoming and the fight would not be over.
The Norwegian Government Rejects Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway's Story
The Norwegian government wasn't happy with its portrayal in Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway, particularly since its representatives are depicted as prejudiced against Indian cultural differences. In an Op-Ed to The Indian Express, Norwegian Ambassador to India Hans Jacob Frydenlund explained, "Children will never be taken away from their families based on cultural differences described. Eating with their hands or having children sleeping in bed with their parents are not considered practices harmful to children and are not uncommon in Norway, irrespective of cultural background." Clearly, it took more than different cultural norms to instigate a case against Mrs. Chatterjee.
Of all the big changes made to Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway, the most prominent involved the reason Norway's Child Welfare Services placed the real Mrs. Chatterjee's children in foster care. The Barnevernet is responsible for helping all the children in Norway under duress and with 20,000 Indians living in Norway maintaining their cultural practices without intervention from CWS, the Norwegian government wanted to make clear that removing the children from the home of the real couple behind Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway was due to suspicions of actual abuse. Their decision was made based on video footage, as well as after several visits, rather than brief encounters.
How The Real Mrs. Chatterjee Responded To The Norwegian Child Services
The real Mrs. Chatterjee had a fiery response to the Norwegian Child Welfare Services as well as the statement from the Norwegian Embassy. Chakraborty condemned the statements in her own Op-Ed piece to The Indian Express; "When the whole world can see the bond between me and my kids, the Norwegian Government continues to spread lies about her without even knowing her story". She further acknowledged the cultural differences between Norwegian and Indian culture that she felt the Norwegian government found reprehensible, maintaining that prejudice had a hand in their decision to remove her children from her custody.
In her book Journey of a Mother, the real Mrs. Chatterjee described the brutal fight against the Norwegian government as well as the aftermath, and the film sides firmly with Chakraborty. The Norwegian government maintains that it would take substantially more proof of abuse to remove children from their parent's custody than she describes, and she maintains that they acted out of repugnance for her parenting methods. The truth of Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway, like most things, lies somewhere in the middle.
Source: The Indian Express
