Wild Wild Cult guy Swami Nithyananda just took his island nation Kailasa to UN in Geneva
The controversial godman's controversial country Kailasa has previously sent reports to the UN and attended a few meetings even if it's not recognised as a member country by the UN (photo-DailyO)
Kailasa, yes, Kailasa, the same island country off the Pacific coast of South America, which is not recognised by any other nation in the world, just found an audience at the United Nations in Geneva. As Kailasa’s controversial godman founder and rape-accused Swami Nithyananda shared on his Twitter handle, the USK (United States of Kailasa) was represented by a female devotee at a UN meeting at Geneva, Switzerland.
USK at UN Geneva: Inputs on the Achievement of Sustainability
— KAILASA's SPH Nithyananda (@SriNithyananda) February 25, 2023
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
As per Nithyananda’s tweet, the USK was present at the Geneva building “in a discussion on the General Comment on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Sustainable Development”. The woman seems to be bearing the same garb as the infamous leader of Kailasa, sporting heavy jewellery and dreadlocks of hair tied up in a heavy bunch (or “a perfect habitat for birds” as one Twitter user commented).
The Twitterati were obviously puzzled with the inclusion of a country that hardly seems to be recognised formally by any other government or country. No matter how much Nithyananda would market himself as the restorer of Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism), he still happens to be a fugitive for India, fleeing the country in 2019 after he was involved in non-bailable charges of rape and abduction.
But how does the UN recognise Kailasa?
Interestingly, the recent Geneva meeting isn’t the first time that the UN and the USK have crossed paths. As it turns out, the international organisation has actually ended up publishing a few reports by the representatives of Kailasa that stress on not just the persecution of Hindus but the persecution of their leader (the same man accused of rape by female devotees and accused of kidnapping young followers by their very own parents).
A glimpse at the “United Nations Published Reports” sections on Kailasa’s official website shows that the self-governing country has submitted multiple reports and statements that have been discussed in several UN committees regarding women’s rights, minority rights, protection of persons against enforced disapperances, and of course, the persecution of Nithyananda who is often referred to as His Divine Holiness (HDH) and even the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism (SPH).
Still, regardless of the UN tours that Kailasa shares on its website and social media, the official United Nations website doesn’t seem to mention it as one of its 193 member states. But a so-called “country” doesn’t have to be an actual member state to send representatives at specific UN sessions. This would explain not just the presence of Kailasa at the UN but even historically-disputed nations like Palestine and Balochistan. But given how ambitious Nithyanada’s plans seem to be with Kailasa, it wouldn’t be surprising if he comes up with his own United Nations!
A Brief History of Kailasa
After detours to Ecuador and Trinidad & Tobago, Nithyananda announced the creation of his own nation Kailasa in 2020. Claiming it to be the world’s first sovereign Hindu state, the cult leader hardly disclosed and still hasn’t disclosed the exact details behind the island’s origin.
- Did Nithyananda and his army of devotees buy the island from a particular country or individual?
- If a crime happens in Kailasa, can any neighbouring Central American country intervene?
- Under whose exact jurisdiction does Kailasa lie?
The answers to these questions cannot even be found on Kailasa’s official website.
But the website will offer you details on everything else from Kailasa’s constitution to Kailasa’s national animal (the mythological bull Nandi) and national tree (banyan) and its national flag (a maroonish rectangle stamped with a Nandi and Nithyananda’s own image). Mentioning the persecution of Hindus in human history as a “Hindu Holocaust”, Kailasa is termed as “the Revival of the Ancient Enlightened Hindu Civilizational Nation which is being revived by displaced Hindus from around the world”.
While the website adds that there are no barriers on caste, class, gender, and sexuality to gain “citizenship” at Kailasa, it is intended as a Hindu-only state, more like “a safe haven to all the world’s practising, aspiring or persecuted Hindus”. The site’s data sources aren’t mentioned but it claims that the nation’s current population is '2 billion practising Hindus with 100 million being of the Adi Shaivite sect'.
Kailasa also has its own Reserve Bank of Kailasa that is structured along the lines of the Vatican Bank. And leave alone everything, the country even has its own (drumroll) Kailasa-pedia!
Political pundits can dispute the legality of Kailasa but Nithyananda might let his bruised ego deliver a fiery reply, something like (and this is something that he actually told a critic once):
“Fighting with me is spiritual suicide. Fighting with me is like you cutting your own hand. You take a sword in your right hand, cut your left leg, cut your right leg, and then cut your left hand. And then hold the sword in your teeth and cut the right hand also.”