A Paraguayan government official has been replaced after he mistakenly signed a deal with ‘Kailasa’ – the fictional country created by fugitive Indian godman Nithyananda. Associated Press reports that Arnaldo Chamorro was replaced as chief of staff for Paraguay’s agriculture ministry on Wednesday, November29, soon after it came to light that he had signed a “proclamation” with representatives of the “United States of Kailasa”.
The proclamation reportedly expressed the “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 organizations, including, among others, the United Nations”.
In addition to Chamorro, ‘Kailasa’ representatives had also met agriculture minister Carlos Giménez.
While this update was met with ridicule online, this is not the first time government authorities have been tricked into believing Kailasa is a real country. In March this year, it came to light that the city of Newark in the United States had signed a sister-city agreement with Kailasa.
Two representatives of the so-called country also attended an event organised by a UN committee in Geneva on February 24. One of them even spoke at the event. Vijayapriya Nithyananda, who has a tattoo of the godman on her arm, claimed that Kailasa has been implementing “ancient Hindu policies and indigenous solutions” for sustainable development in her so-called country. She also said that Nithyananda had been “persecuted by anti-Hindu elements” in India.
Tamil Nadu-native Nithyananda, whose real name is Rajashekharan, allegedly fled India in 2019 after security agencies began probing his involvement in criminal cases including a rape case in Karnataka. The case pertained to two girls who went missing from his ashram. His passport expired in September 2018 and police have since declined his requests for a renewal.
In December 2018, Gujarat Police arrested two of Nithyananda’s associates, and also booked him under charges of abduction, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult to provoke breach of peace and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code as well as charges under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act.
After fleeing the country, Nithyananda reappeared online to claim that he had founded his own nation.