How Kailasa, the fictional nation of self-styled godman Nithyananda, keeps causing trouble

Never has a fictional country caused so much trouble. An official in Paraguay was sacked after signing a deal with Kailasa. The “United States of Kailasa” was the brainchild of Nithyananda – the self-styled godman who fled India after a rape case was filed against him in Karnataka. The fugitive in 2019 claimed to have established the USK after purchasing an island off the coast of Ecuador. Its name was reportedly inspired from mount Kailash in Tibet. Its website describes it as “revival of an ancient enlightened Hindu civilisational nation being restored by displaced Hindus worldwide.” Nithyananda’s whereabouts remain unknown. Let’s take a closer look at the controversies Kailasa has been embroiled in: Paraguay official sacked A Paraguayan government official was replaced after it was revealed that he signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with representatives of the fictional country.

Paraguay official resigns after signing agreement with fictional country Kailasa. https://t.co/B6TZCpm1aA

— Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) December 1, 2023

Several other officials in South American nation also appear to have been fooled by the so-called representatives who presented Kailasa as a South American island. Arnaldo Chamorro was replaced as chief of staff for Paraguay’s Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday shortly after it was revealed that he signed a “proclamation” with representatives of the United States of Kailasa.

The memorandum signed by the two parties had envisaged the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two “countries.”

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Among other things, the October 16 “proclamation” expressed a “sincere wish and recommendation for the government of Paraguay to consider, explore and actively seek the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States of Kailasa and support the admission of the United States of Kailasa as a sovereign and independent state in various international organisations, including, among others, the United Nations,” according to a copy of the agreement posted on social media. In the document, complete with the ministry’s letterhead and official seal, Chamorro salutes “the honorable Nithyananda Paramashivam, sovereign of the United States of Kailasa” and praises his “contributions to Hinduism, humanity and the Republic of Paraguay.” Representatives of the fictional country met with Chamorro and Agriculture Minister Carlos Giménez, M Chamorro said in a radio interview. During the interview, Chamorro recognised he didn’t know where Kailasa was located and said he signed what he characterised as a “memorandum of understanding” because they offered to help Paraguay with a variety of issues, including irrigation. “They (the “officials”) came and expressed a wish to help Paraguay. They presented several projects, we listened to them and that was that,” he said, admitting to having been fooled. Photos posted in Kailasa’s social media accounts also showed representatives of the fictional country signing agreements with local leaders of the María Antonia and Karpai municipalities. The social media account celebrated each of these signings. The revelation sparked a scandal — and lots of social media mockery — in Paraguay. The agriculture ministry in a statement lamented “procedural errors” committed and said the memorandum “cannot be considered official” nor confer any obligations on the state of Paraguay. But this isn’t even the first time self-described representatives of the United States of Kailasa duped international leaders. Dupes city of Newark, scams 30 cities In March, Newark City Hall in New Jersey acknowledged it had gotten scammed when it signed a “sister-city” agreement with Kailasa. The sister-city agreement between Newark and the fake “United States of Kailasa” was inked on 12 January and the signing ceremony took place at City Hall in Newark. That revelation came after it was revealed that over 30 American cities signed a cultural partnership with the fake nation of Kailasa — cities from Richmond, Virginia to Dayton, Ohio, to Buena Park, Florida. Jacksonville, North Carolina told Fox News: “Our proclamations with Kailasa are not an endorsement. They are a response to a request and we do not verify the information that is requested.”

Fox News blamed the cities for not “googling” for information about the fake nation.

“If someone wants a proclamation, someone gets a proclamation. They’ll just say you’re an exotic Hindu Island and they’ll name a street after you,” the Fox News anchor said. The report added that it’s not just mayors or city councils but “people running the federal government” who are falling for the fake nation too. It added that according to the fake guru, two members of the Congress have given Kailasa “special congressional recognition.” One of them is Congresswoman Norma Torres of California, who is on the House Appropriations Committee. “So, the person who decides what we spend our tax dollars on just got duped by an alleged rapist guru with a fake country,” the Fox News anchor said. Republican Troy Balderson from Ohio also presented “his divine holiness and pontiff of Hinduism congressional recognition.” Earlier this month, Press Secretary in the Department of Communications, City of Newark, Susan Garofalo had told PTI in an email that as soon as “we learned about the circumstances surrounding Kailasa, the City of Newark immediately took action and rescinded the sister city agreement” on 18 January. “Based on deception, the ceremony was groundless and void…Although this was a regrettable incident, the City of Newark remains committed to partnering with people from diverse cultures in order to enrich each other with connectivity, support, and mutual respect,” Garofalo said. Newark Councilman at Large Luis Quintana sponsored the motion to rescind the agreement. He said during official proceedings that going forward any city entering into a sister city agreement “must be in good standards of human rights. “We cannot bring Sister Cities International into an issue where there is controversy. This is an oversight, cannot happen any longer,” he said, adding that Newark cannot put itself in a situation where there is a sister city that has no human rights. He had said going forward, it must be ensured that while sister cities are encouraged, agreements cannot be entered into with “governments that don’t have human rights.” The Fox News report quoted a Newark resident to say that the sister-city agreement with a fake nation was an embarrassing episode for the city. “I think that’s embarrassing that he didn’t do his background research before entertaining them.” At the UN Earlier this year, so-called USK representatives even managed to participate in a United Nations committee meeting in Geneva. The so-called representatives participated in two UN committee meetings in Geneva in February. The first was a general discussion on Equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems organised by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 22 February. [caption id=“attachment_13454632” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The representatives, led by a woman named Vijayapriya Nithyananda – who claimed to be the “Permanent Ambassador to the UN from the United States of Kailasa” – demanded protection for the “Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism (SPH).” News18[/caption] The second was a general discussion on the General Comment on economic, social cultural rights and sustainable development on February 24, hosted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). The representatives, led by a woman named Vijayapriya Nithyananda – who claimed to be the “Permanent Ambassador to the UN from the United States of Kailasa” – demanded protection for the “Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism (SPH).” They claimed Nithyananda was being “persecuted.” Nithyananda wrote on X:

USK at UN Geneva: Inputs on the Achievement of Sustainability

Participation of the United States of KAILASA in a discussion on the General Comment on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Sustainable Development at the United Nations in Geneva

The Economic, Social, and… pic.twitter.com/pNoAkWOas8

— KAILASA's SPH NITHYANANDA (@SriNithyananda) February 25, 2023

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Vijyapriya at the time said, “Kailasa is the first sovereign state for Hindus, established by the supreme pontiff of Hinduism, Nithyanand Paramashivam, who is reviving the enlightened Hindu civilisation and its 10,000 indigenous traditions of Hinduism, including the Adi Shaivite indigenous agricultural tribes for which the supreme pontiff of Hinduism is the leader as well.” IANS further quoted her as saying, “Kailasa has been implementing the ancient Hindu policies and indigenous solutions that are in alignment with the time-tested Hindu principles for sustainable development”. Vijapriya also spoke about Nithayananda’s “intense persecution and human rights violation for reviving the indigenous traditions and lifestyle and lifestyle of Hinduism”. “And he was even banned from preaching and exiled from his birth country,” she said and also asked the panel what can be done to help him, according to IANS. Responding to questions on the United States of Kailasa’s participation at the UN forums, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had said registration for such public events is open to NGOs and the general public. Anyone can submit information to the treaty bodies, who will use their judgment to determine the credibility of the submissions received. On the day of the CEDAW general discussion, USK members were prevented from distributing promotional material in front of and inside the conference room. Their written submission to CEDAW will not be published by the committee as it is irrelevant to the topic of the general discussion, OHCHR had said. At House of Lords Party As per The Guardian, two conservative party MPs invited a representative of Nithyananda to a Diwali Party in the House of Lords. The representative called Atmadaya was invited to the soiree by MP Bob Blackman and the peer Rami Ranger.

Nithyananda’s group also took out a full-page advertisement in a brochure given to attendees.

The newspaper quoted Ranger as saying, I do not know Kailasa or this person.” “If I had known I would never have attended an event where such unsavoury characters were being promoted.” The Hindu Forum of Britain, however, refused to back down. Trupti Patel, the group’s president, said: “We do not discriminate; each entity has their own following. Social media/internet hype and unsubstantiated allegations against UK-registered charities cannot stop any two organisations working together.” Nithyananda has denied all charges against him. With inputs from agencies