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

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 Monday (January 12, 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.