'Won't Consider Inputs': UN After Fugitive Nithyananda’s ‘Country’ Kailasa Attends International Meet

Representatives of fugitive godman Nithyananda’s self-proclaimed nation, ‘Kailasa’,  attended a United Nations (UN) committee’s discussion on sustainable development in Geneva recently. At the meeting, the fictional country’s representative demanded protection for the rape-accused godman, who she called the “supreme pontiff of Hinduism”.

At UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on February 24, a woman named Vijayapriya Nithyananda represented “Kailasa” as its “permanent ambassador”

In a video from the event, uploaded on the UN website the woman dressed in a sari and wearing a turban and jewellery could be seen speaking about the initiatives taken by her country in the field of “sustainable development”.

The woman said that Kailasa is the first sovereign state for Hindus, established by, Nithyanand Paramashivam, who is “reviving the enlightened Hindu civilisation and its 10,000 indigenous Hindu traditions, including the Adi Shaivite indigenous agricultural tribes for which the supreme pontiff of Hinduism is also the leader”.

Nithyananda also posted photos of the event on his official Twitter account along with information about the all-women delegation. He said the delegation participated in discussions on “equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems”.

The UN does not recognise ‘Kailasa’ as a country and the international agency said that these comments were made when the floor was opened to the public.

In an official response to India Today, the UN said Kailasa participated in discussions as an NGO.

“Their written submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) will not be published as it is irrelevant to the topic of the general discussion,” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva said.

Nithyananda, whose real name is Rajashekharan, is a native of Tamil Nadu. He rose to prominence after founding an ashram near Bengaluru in the early 2000s. His preachings are loosely based on those of Osho Rajneesh.

In 2010, Nithyananda hit the headlines after a video of him in a compromising position with an actress went viral. He was later charged with rape and arrested. He was also arrested and charge-sheeted in a separate case of rape.

He fled from India in 2019 and established his ashram in a location he calls Kailasa. The exact location of “Kilasha’ is unclear but reportedly it is located on an island off the Pacific coast of Central America. The county is said to have its own passport, flag and even a Bank named “Reserve Bank of Kailasa”.

The fugitive godman claims to represent “two billion Hindus” in the nation of Kailasa.

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