Three?s company: (top) Shabnam Hashmi and Gauhar Raza; Seher with friend

Just a stone?s throw away from the Capital?s political offices, where chaos rules in the aftermath of the just-announced Assembly election results, sits Seher Hashmi ? completely unperturbed by the turmoil that surrounds her. The nine-year-old shows hardly any outward signs of being troubled by the storm in her parents? life, either, as she nibbles on chhole bhature and quietly watches Cartoon Network.

?We don?t have television at home. So she?s making the best of it here,? says her mother, social activist Shabnam Hashmi, seated in her ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy) office. Right now, it seems that Hashmi and her husband, scientist Gauhar Raza, don?t have the right of being called Seher?s parents. Ten days ago, Raza?s organisation, the government?s Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), informed him that as he and his wife were not the adoptive parents of Seher, but her legal guardians, ?Miss Hashmi does not qualify? to be a member of their family.

Eight years ago, Hashmi and Raza adopted Seher from Palna, a home for abandoned children in Delhi. Raza had promptly submitted the court papers to the administrative department of CSIR, requesting them to include Seher?s name in the office service book as a member of his family. He, however, didn?t follow it up until last month, when he discovered by chance that Seher?s name was not in the service book. Raza sent the department another letter of request accompanied by the papers.

It was then that he was told, two weeks ago, that the papers he had submitted only granted him and his wife guardianship of the child, and not parenthood, and asked him to submit the ?legal adoption papers?.

?What they don?t realise is that these are the only legal papers that non-Hindu parents can have,? says Hashmi. In fact, Raza had written a letter to CSIR informing them of that, but even then, his request fell on deaf ears and he was asked to do ?whatever you want? by an administrative official in the organisation, but Seher?s name would not be included.

The only ?problem? that Raza and Hashmi have here is the fact that they are Muslim. In India, Hindu parents can adopt a child under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), but non-Hindu parents have no such provision. The best that they can have is a court granting them guardianship under the Guardians and Wards Act, till the child turns 21. Not just that, they have to report periodically to the Indian Council for Child Welfare and the Central Adoption Resource Agency, New Delhi for the first two years.

What comes across through all this is the fact that non-Hindu parents are discriminated against when it comes to adoption. There has been a demand for a Special Adoption Act for non-Hindu parents for almost 15 years now. But just like the change of governments don?t affect Seher, they don?t affect the status of the Act either. It has been ignored by successive governments. ?It is very unfortunate that the implementation of the Act stays the way it is,? says Aruna V. Kumar, general secretary, Delhi Council For Child Welfare.

Kumar also says that the lapse in law notwithstanding, ?for all practical purposes, Shabnam and Gauhar are Seher?s parents. They have the necessary court papers and Gauhar?s organisation should accept that instead of being insensitive.? She also said the Hashmis were in consultation with her on the possibility of the filing of a PIL.

?Shabnam is a strong woman, and has the conviction to fight for her daughter?s rights. But for many adopted children, such discrimination is rife,? says Kumar. Hashmi says that it is not the children?s fault that they have been adopted by non-Hindu parents, because they don?t choose the home that adopts them. ?Also, if the government is really worried about the rehabilitation of orphaned children, it should make the process easier and more transparent,? says Hashmi, adding that the complications often put off would-be parents who contemplate adoption.

And the complications around adopting a child are just the beginning of their troubles. ?Some schools do not consider a child fit for admission unless the parents can produce an original birth certificate. How on earth do we get a relinquished child?s original certificate?? asks Hashmi.

And while little Seher may be quietly watching television through it all, she also realises that her parents are putting up a fight. ?We have told her that we are fighting for her,? says Hashmi. Seher had walked into a press conference that Hashmi had convened on the issue on Saturday. ?Seher was upset and asked me why so many people were talking about her,? says Hashmi.

For Hashmi and Raza, the official acceptance of Seher by CSIR really doesn?t make much of a difference, as they continue to be a loving family. All they want is that their daughter be treated with the same dignity as any other individual in the country deserves. Just don?t ? they urge the government ? penalise the adopted child.