Ariha Shah case – Artifex.News

As German Chancellor Merz lands in Gujarat, activists demand that Modi ask for Ariha’s return

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 15:53:00 +0000

Dhara Shah, mother of Ariha Shah during a demonstration at Connaught place to request German Ambassador to allow Ariha Shah to celebrate Independence day with Indian community in German in New Delhi on Monday, August 14, 2023.
| Photo Credit: R V MOORTHY

Accusing the German government of violating the human rights and cultural rights of five-year-old Ariha Shah, who was seized from her parents on allegations of abuse four years ago, activists demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi take up the matter with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz when they meet on Tuesday (January 13, 2026). Despite several pleas from New Delhi, the German government has not agreed to India’s request that Ms. Shah, an Indian citizen, be allowed to return to India and to be brought up in foster care here.

Mr. Merz will begin his two-day visit, his first trip to India and Asia as Chancellor, on Monday (January 12, 2026) in Ahmedabad, where he will hold bilateral talks with Mr. Modi.

The case of Ariha Shah has been raised by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with German counterparts a number of times, and Mr. Modi had discussed it with the previous Chancellor Olaf Scholz. After a meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in September 2025, Mr. Jaishankar had said it was “essential” that Ms. Shah “grows up in Indian surroundings”.

“It is imperative that the Government of India raises Ariha’s case at the highest level to ensure her immediate repatriation to India,” Yatin Shah, from the Save Ariha Team, a group of social workers and Shah family associates, said in a statement about Ariha’s situation after she was taken into German foster care in September 2021. “If Germany genuinely believes in the child’s welfare, it should hand over Ariha to her home country, allowing the Indian government to oversee her safety and well-being,” he added.

The group repeated demands by Ariha’s parents, Gujarati-Jain couple Dhara and Bhavesh Shah, that the child be taught Gujarati or Hindi and learn about the Jain religion she was born to, adding that depriving a child of her “mother tongue, religion, and cultural exposure directly violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC]”, to which both India and Germany are signatories.

Asked whether the issue would be taken up during Modi-Merz talks, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday (January 9, 2026) that “all aspects of the bilateral relationship will be discussed.”

The MEA and German Embassy officials countered the allegations that Ms. Shah had been kept away from learning about her Indian culture, pointing out that Indian Embassy officials are given regular consular access to the girl.

“We are continuously working on cultural immersion measures for Ariha, including language classes,” said a German embassy spokesperson, adding that English classes had begun, while the government was in talks with the Indian embassy about teaching her Hindi.

At present Dhara and Bhavesh Shah are allowed to visit their daughter twice a month, and thus far the Indian embassy has been granted five consular access visits with four visits to a local temple in the Berlin area. The last such visit was on September 15, 2025, shortly after Mr. Jaishankar’s meeting in Berlin, government sources said, adding that Indian books and materials had been shared with Ariha.

However, Ariha’s family contends that without being at an Indian home, it will be harder for the child to imbibe Indian culture with each passing month. According to the Save Ariha team, German Youth Services Jugendamt, who had originally accused the Shahs of grievous abuse but subsequently dropped criminal charges, have already billed Ariha’s parents about ₹22 lakh for foster care and another ₹16 lakh for administrative and legal costs, amounts the parents can ill-afford.

Mr. Merz will begin his visit by paying respects at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and will then participate in the “Kite Festival”. He will meet with Mr. Modi in Gandhinagar and the two sides will hold their bi-annual summit, followed by statements to the press. On Tuesday (January 13, 2026), Mr. Merz, who is accompanied by a large business delegation, will travel to Bengaluru to visit the India headquarters of German Tech major Bosch, as well as the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering at the world-renowned Indian Institute of Science.

Published – January 11, 2026 09:23 pm IST

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Germany prepared to discuss Ariha case, search for solution to child’s future: envoy

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:00:43 +0000

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. File
| Photo Credit: AP

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be prepared to discuss the issue of three-year-old Ariha Shah, an Indian child taken into foster care by German authorities when he visits India this week, German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann said on Wednesday. He added that the government in Berlin “continues to work to find a satisfactory solution for the future of the child”.

Ahead of the German Chancellor’s visit, Ariha’s parents and members of the Jain community they belong to are urging the Ministry of External Affairs to push for a solution that would see the child return to India, or at least be raised according to their culture.

Ariha was removed from her parents’ custody by German authorities in 2021, over allegations that she had been physically abused and sustained grievous injuries while in their care. Although her father Bhavesh Shah, a Gujarati engineer working in Germany, and her mother Dhara Shah, a housewife, and Ariha herself are all Indian citizens, a German court decreed that she would live in foster care in Germany until she turns 18.

Language training

In response to a question from The Hindu during a briefing on Mr. Scholz’s visit, slated to take place from October 24 to 26, Mr. Ackermann said that, through close contact between the MEA, the German Embassy, and the Youth Authorities in Berlin, they had been able to procure an “in-principle” agreement that Ariha would receive training in an Indian language and some exposure to Indian culture as she grows up with a foster parent in a home outside of Berlin.

“What we have achieved in the last couple of months is: this language training in-principle is there, an exposure to [Indian] culture is there, and exposure to festivals is there,” Mr. Ackermann said, referring to Ariha’s participation in the Paryushan celebrations of the Jain community, and her interactions with a priest who flew from Mumbai to teach her some rituals. The Shahs are also allowed to meet their daughter once or twice a month, although their interactions are restricted and monitored by German authorities.

Accompanied by at least eight senior Ministers, Mr. Scholz will arrive in Delhi late on Thursday night and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning. Both leaders will address the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business 2024 (APK 2024), which will be attended by about 800 CEOs of various companies.

India and Germany will also hold talks as part of their bi-annual Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) followed by agreements on a number of issues. Topics include skilling and employment, strategic and military exchanges, and science and technology cooperation, including collaborations between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the German Space Agency.

Child welfare

When asked, Mr. Ackermann said that there is a “clear possibility” that India will also raise Ariha’s case during these talks, making it clear that the Germans are “prepared to answer any queries”.

In a letter to Thane MP Naresh Mhaske in August, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that the MEA had consistently followed up on Ariha’s case, and claimed credit for an intervention that ensured that the Jungendamt, Germany’s child welfare authority, decided not to appeal a Berlin court’s decision to grant visitations for the parents. He added that Ariha had been allowed to visit a temple twice, with Indian diplomats, and said that the Indian Embassy in Berlin was looking for an appropriate teacher for her to teach her Gujarati or Hindi.

“The matter has been raised with the German side at all levels, including personally by myself with my German counterpart where I emphasised that the long-term welfare of Ariha can only be ensured when she is brought up in her own socio-cultural environment in India,” wrote Mr. Jaishankar, who travelled to Berlin in September. Although the MEA made no statement on the Ariha matter during his visit, it was raised publicly during a visit to Delhi by German Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock last year.

Published – October 23, 2024 10:30 pm IST

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