Kailasa is a micronation founded by Hindu guru Nithyananda in December 2019. Nithyananda, who has been described as leading a cult, [1] [2] [3] claimed that he had created a new "Hindu nation" microstate, and claims that Kailaasa is the world's only sovereign Hindu nation. Kailaasa has been variously described as an internationally dispersed network of non-governmental organisations, a fictional or fake country, and a scam or con.
In December 2019, Nithyananda claimed that he had created a new "Hindu nation" microstate called Kailaasa (also known as Shrikailasa & United States of Kailaasa [4] or USK [5] ) and claimed to issue passports, currency, and other documents. [6] [7] [8] [9] In his announcement he said, "Kailaasa is a nation without borders created by dispossessed Hindus around the world who lost the right to practice Hinduism authentically in their own countries". [10] Nithyananda claims that Kailaasa is the world's only sovereign Hindu nation. [11] Kailaasa has also been described as a network of non-governmental organisations spanning three continents. [12] [13]
According to a statement by someone identified as the press secretary of Kailasa stated: "It was established much in the spirit of a country like the Sovereign Order of Malta, a borderless service-oriented nation", and the MoneyControl website reporting this (based on CBS News coverage) also stated that Kailasa "is operated through a group of NGOs from multiple countries", [14] suggesting (along with "Kailaasa is a nation without borders") that it does not exist as geographical territory. By contrast, India Today reported (relying largely on self-published promotional material at Kailaasa.org), that Nithyananda had bought an island off the coast of Ecuador for Kailasa; however, the article also said it was "near Trinidad and Tobago", [6] which is physically impossible since those islands are on the opposite side of the South American continent from Ecuador.
In August 2020, Nithyananda announced the Reserve Bank of Kailaasa and released its official gold currency, the Kailashian dollar. [7] He said the design of the coins was inspired by the currency of "the ancient 56 Hindu nations". [15] He said that the bank would be structured on the lines of the Vatican Bank. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] In December 2020, Nithyananda announced that Kailaasa had begun issuing three-day visas for tourists. [22] According to his announcement, visa-holders will have to travel from Australia aboard a newly launched private chartered-flight service, Garuda, and all visitors will be provided with food and accommodation during the course of their stay. [22] [23]
On 19 April 2021, citing COVID-19 cases across the world, Nithyananda banned travel to Kailaasa from India, Brazil, Europe, and Malaysia. [24] [25] [26] On 7 June 2021, media reported that while answering a disciple during a Amman reading, Nithyananda said that COVID would end when he is received in India with respect and performs pilgrimage to all Shakti Pitha. [27] [28] [29] [30]
In August 2022, a representative for Nithyananda wrote to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe to request political asylum citing Nithyananda's ill-health. The letter contained an offer to invest in Sri Lanka on condition of asylum being granted and the donation of medical equipment required for treatment. The request demanded the establishment of political ties with Kailaasa so that an air ambulance would transport Nithyananda as a head of state. [9] [31]
Nithyananda approached the United Nations again, through a woman identifying herself as Vijayapriya Nithyananda and claiming to be the "permanent ambassador" to the UN of his new country of Kailaasa, at 23 February 2023 open public meetings of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, complaining in testimony and a written submission about persecution of "the people of Kailasa", seeking international recognition for Kailaasa as the "first sovereign state for Hindus", and claiming Nithyanada to be the "supreme pontiff of Hinduism". The UN was reported to have ignored the Kailaasa submission as "irrelevant". [5]
The general consensus among the mainstream press is that Kailaasa is a fictional "fake country" and even a scam or con. [4] [5] [32] [1] [33] [34] [35] [36]
In November 2023, the chief of staff of Paraguay's agricultural ministry was replaced after the government discovered that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives of Kailaasa. [4] [34] Reporting by New York magazine in 2023 suggests that Kailaasa-related activities have actually been pursued by Nithyananda for at least 20 years, including various attempts to convince American, Canadian, and other places to enter into "sister city" arrangements with and other forms of acknowledgement of Kailaasa, which has resulted in several scandals from city to national levels. [37]
In 2023, Newark mayor Ras Baraka invited Kailasa to city hall to join in a "cultural trade agreement". City officials, including Baraka, took photos and signed documents to make Newark a sister city with Kailasa. Newark City Hall called the scam a "regrettable incident," a council member referred to it as an "oversight," and Newark residents expressed embarrassment that city officials did not bother to perform a basic Google search to determine whether "Kailasa" was a real country or city. [38]
Bangladesh–India relations are the bilateral relations between the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of India, both of which are South Asian neighbours. Diplomatic relations between the two countries formally began in 1971 with India's recognition of an independent Bangladesh following India's military intervention helping Bangladesh secure independence following the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, known by devotees as Asaram, is an Indian spiritual leader and convicted rapist, who started to come into the limelight in the early 1970s. By 2013, he was estimated to have established over 400 ashrams and 40 schools in India and abroad.
The Hindu Forum of Britain is an umbrella organisation of Hindu groups in the United Kingdom. Scholars have observed parallels between its discourse and Hindutva organisations in India and suggest possible links.
The information technology (I.T.) industry in India comprises information technology services and business process outsourcing. The share of the IT-BPM sector in the GDP of India is 7.4% in FY 2022. The IT and BPM industries' revenue is estimated at US$ 245 billion in FY 2023. The domestic revenue of the IT industry is estimated at $51 billion, and export revenue is estimated at $194 billion in FY 2023. The IT–BPM sector overall employs 5.4 million people as of March 2023. In December 2022, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha informed that IT units registered with state-run Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Special Economic Zones have exported software worth Rs 11.59 lakh crore in 2021–22.
Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language right-wing news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation.
Ranjitha is an Indian former actress and alleged politician, said to be currently serving as the Prime Minister of the fictional micronation of Kailaasa, which she has been developing with religious leader Nithyananda since 2023. As an actress, she has acted in a number of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films during her film career.
Nithyananda, is an Indian self-styled "godman". Following charges of rape and abduction filed in Indian courts, Nithyananda fled India and has remained in hiding since 2019. He is the subject of a court-issued non-bailable warrant relating to the allegations. Nithyananda is also wanted since 2019 for unrelated fraud charges in France.
Dawood Ibrahim is an Indian mob boss, drug lord, and terrorist. He reportedly heads the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company, which he founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Ibrahim is wanted on charges including murder, extortion, targeted killing, drug trafficking, and terrorism.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.
Ras Jua Baraka is an American politician, author, and educator. A member of the Democratic Party, Baraka is the 40th and current mayor of Newark, New Jersey. First elected in the 2014 election, he was sworn into office on May 13, 2014, and was reelected in 2018 and 2022.
Mehul Chinubhai Choksi is an Indian-born fugitive and businessman living in Antigua and Barbuda, who is wanted by the Indian judicial authorities for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property, corruption and money laundering.
Falahari Baba, also known as Falahari Maharaj, is a self-styled godman, who has been convicted for raping a 21 year-old woman and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is listed in the second list of "fake spiritual leaders" released by Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of Hindu sadhus.
Fake news and similar false information is fostered and spread across India through word of mouth, traditional media and more recently through digital forms of communication such as edited videos, websites, blogs, memes, unverified advertisements and social media propagated rumours. Fake news spread through social media in the country has become a serious problem, with the potential of it resulting in mob violence, as was the case where at least 20 people were killed in 2018 as a result of misinformation circulated on social media.
A Fugitive Economic Offender is a legal term in India. It relates to any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to a "scheduled offence" has been issued by any Indian court under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. It applies to individuals who either left India to avoid criminal prosecution; or, being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. The list of Fugitive Economic Offenders currently residing abroad is Pushpesh Baid, Ashish Jobanputra, Vijay Mallya, Sunny Kalra, Sanjay Kalra, Sudhir Kumar Kalra, Aarti Kalra, Varsha Kalra, Jatin Mehta, Umesh Parekh, Kamlesh Parekh, Nilesh Parekh, Eklavya Garg, Vinay Mittal, Nirav Modi, Neeshal Modi, Mehul Choksi, Sabya Seth, Rajiv Goyal, Alka Goyal, Lalit Modi, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara, Chetankumar Sandesara, Ritesh Jain, Hitesh Narendrabhai Patel, Mayuriben Patel and Priti Ashish Jobanputra.
Lakya SuryanarayanaTejasvi Surya is an Indian politician, RSS swayamsevak and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party, representing the Bangalore South constituency. He is also the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha since 26 September 2020.
Zee Media Corporation Limited is an Indian mass media and news broadcasting company based in Mumbai. The company is engaged mainly in the business of broadcasting news and current affairs, and regional entertainment up-linked from India via satellite television channels.
The TRP manipulation scam of 2020 involved the alleged inflation by some television channels of their viewership ratings. The investigation was based on a complaint filed with the Mumbai Police. The 70% revenue for television channels coming from advertising highlights the importance of Target Rating Point (TRP) for television channels.
Bjp news channel (Hindi pronunciation:[ˈɡoːd̪iː]; lit. 'media sitting on lap'; idiomatic equivalent: 'lapdog media'; is a term coined and popularised by veteran Indian journalist Ravish Kumar for "sensationalist and biased Indian print and TV news media, which openly supports the ruling NDA government ". The term is a pun on the name of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has become a common way to refer to television and other media that are perceived as "mouthpieces" of the leading party of the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
COVID-19 scams are scams whose cover story primarily relies on the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been reported in multiple countries, primarily the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.