Saurabh Malpani

Transcript

I want to go home with you, Papa, cried my misty eyed 5-year-old daughter as I had to leave our family vacation before her. Mariah, mom and you will be home in 4 days, so enjoy with grandparents. I'll even clean the whole house for you. She replied cheekily, "Do not clean the house without me. We will clean it together and then mess it up again." As I board my flight, I am on a normal call with my wife. The door closes. The flight attendant gestures to disconnect the call.

Then I heard the words, "Sorry, Mariah and I are not coming back." The call ended just before her mom started sending me texts. But before I could respond, my flight took off and my heart dropped. questions exploded in my mind. What just happened? Was it something I said? This cannot be real. But it was Mariah's mother had just abducted her and has kept her away from me across the world. I stepped off that flight in denial. Since that day, I have bargained, pleaded, begged.

I was emotionally bullied. So, I shut myself from the world. But I know what you're probably thinking. So, she's just with her mom. What's the idea? or you're wondering if I was a good father, a good husband, and that's okay because society is conditioned to think that way. After my daughter was born, I stayed with her in the NICU for three whole days because I did not want her to be alone and scared. We grew up together, father and daughter. I changed her diapers, fed her, played with her.

Bath time stories, nap time stories, bedtime stories, so many stories. We sang silly songs together. She even attended her first university lectures with me during my degree. Mariah's mother and I, we stayed strong through immigration challenges, moving countries, co nothing could break us. Turns out my in-laws halfway around the world became an issue. And you thought you had difficult in-laws. International parental child abduction exists. It is a human rights violation where the rights of an innocent child are violated. Mariah's mother had legal counsel.

She attended the Canadian court trial. I have complete parenting rights. But three and a half years later, my daughter, a Canadian citizen, is still not here. Mariah's mother is ignoring court orders because that country does not recognize parental abduction of children as a crime. Moreover, my daughter is being brainwashed into believing lies and traditional gender roles that erase her memories and my love. My soul is tattered. Yet I have risen by creating a website filled with loving memories so that she may find those one day.

By reigniting my love for music because that connects me with her. By supporting other parents endure this tragedy. To spread awareness. To empower international change so that we can prevent abductions like this. to advocate for my daughter because I love her. I have risen for equality because parents should be viewed as parents and not as genders. Surrendering will only sacrifice my daughter's rights and confirm harmful stereotypes. I refuse to legitimize this abduction or to disappear from her life. My measure of success is to survive in her heart.

My love for my daughter transcends geographical boundaries. Equality should too. I hope my daughter sees me speak about this issue. I hope she finds her own voice, stands up for her rights. I want her to be optimistic. I want her to be resilient. just as I am even with my soul half gone. So I clean my house hoping that one day my daughter will come home and together we will make it messy again just as she wished. Thank you.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.