 "A man has been arrested in Ghaziabad for running a fake embassy and conning people. News18")
The Uttar Pradesh Police have busted a fake embassy in Ghaziabad. A 45-year-old man, identified as Harsh Vardhan Jain, was allegedly running a scam from a two-storey house in Kavi Nagar, claiming to be the “ambassador” of Westarctica, an unrecognised micronation in Antarctica.
According to the Noida unit of the Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force (STF), the man conned people using forged Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) documents and promises of international deals.
While his embassy was not real, Westarctica is. The incident has brought micronations to the limelight. But what are these?
We will explain.
What are micronations?
Micronations are “wannabe” states whose representatives claim to belong to an independent nation or sovereign state. However, these political entities are neither recognised by any sovereign state nor under international law.
The “rulers” or founders of these micronations are motivated by philosophical experiment, political protest, entertainment or artistic expression, and sometimes by criminal activity.
A lack of legal basis has, however, not stopped these micronations from creating their own coins, postage stamps, national anthems, flags and even passports.
Dozens of micronations have emerged since the 1960s. American writer Leicester Hemingway founded New Atlantis in 1964 by constructing a bamboo raft with steel, iron piping, and rock, six miles off the coast of Jamaica.
He claimed it was an island with full sovereignty. The raft was ultimately destroyed by a cyclone.
There are micronations that still exist, such as the Principality of Sealand. It is an offshore platform in the North Sea used by the British military during World War II.
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More ShortsPaddy Roy Bates, a former soldier, took up HM Fort Roughs in 1967 and later declared its independence. He later named it the Principality of Sealand, with its own flag, money, national anthem, stamps and football team.
Australia has many micronations, with its first being the Principality of Hutt River founded in 1970.
The Republic of Lamb is an island off the coast of Scotland purchased by popular spoon bender and legendary “psychic” Uri Geller. He offers citizenship, with all proceeds going to Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli charity which treats children with heart conditions globally.
Another micronation is the Republic of Minerva, an artificial island built over disputed coral reefs between the Pacific island nations of Fiji and Tonga.
The Royal Republic of Ladonia was created in 1986 by artist Lars Vilks to protest local authorities in southern Sweden’s Kullaberg, who deemed the two large sculptures he built in an inaccessible nature reserve illegal.
Ladonia, which is ruled by Queen Carolyn, promotes freedom of expression, art and creativity.
Kailasa , the so-called country founded by self-styled godman Nithyananda, who is wanted in India for rape and abduction, is also a micronation.
Nithyananda purchased an island off the coast of Ecuador, which he claims as ‘Kailasa’, as per BBC.
How serious are micronations?
The creators or founders of these mock nations know these entities are not “real”. But they still have fun and sometimes use the opportunity to protest.
“They are very serious about this. Pretending to be a king or a president takes a lot of effort. I think the psychological strength you need to do this constantly when no one recognises you must be quite difficult. But generally speaking, it is for fun. A lot of them also do it as a way to build a community,” Harry Hobbs, co-author of How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations, told Forbes in 2023.
He added: “I think the best ones are really designed for a clear political purpose. There’s the famous Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands. They seceded from Australia to protest legislation banning same-sex marriage and formed a gay and lesbian kingdom. They sailed to an island in the Great Barrier Reef, planted a flag, and set up a country.”
However, pretending to rule a sovereign state is not fun when reality hits.
In 2002, Vilks received applications from migrants and refugees from across the globe for citizenship, believing Ladonia to be a real country.
The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands also got letters from queer people in other country who needed asylum.
Ghaziabad man’s con as ‘ambassador’ of many micronations
The UP STF has arrested Harsh Vardhan Jain after a raid for running a fake embassy in Ghaziabad. The man converted a house in Kavi Nagar, surrounding it with high-end cars, and claimed it to be the official embassy of Westarctica.
The Grand Duchy of Westarctica is a 620,000-square-mile tract of land in western Antarctica. It has its ‘royal head of state’ — the Grand Duke Travis, a flag, currency, and over 2,500 ‘citizens’.
“Jain claimed to be the consul or ambassador of Westarctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Ladonia — none of which are recognised as sovereign nations," SSP Sushil Ghule, who led the STF raid, told the media. “He used diplomatic insignias and paraphernalia to create an illusion of official legitimacy," he added.
Jain morphed photographs of himself with world leaders, including prime ministers and presidents, and used credentials with forged seals of the MEA.
“He used the guise of diplomacy to influence businessmen, promise them access to international markets, and run a hawala network through shell companies,” the UP police said in its statement.
The fake embassy helped Jain scam people seeking foreign investment or work permits, as per the police. Jain is alleged to have pocketed large sums from private individuals and companies, promising them special diplomatic permissions or international licenses.
The UP STF seized Rs 44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currency from several countries, and four high-end luxury vehicles, all bearing fake diplomatic number plates. Forged diplomatic passports and MEA seals were also recovered.
With inputs from agencies