"Regrettable": US City Scraps Agreement With Nithyananda's 'Kailasa'

Nithyananda's 'Kailasa', a fictional country, has been in the news since its representatives attended a UN meet. The controversial godman and his team are trying hard to get a recognition from the international community, as well as the UN, but their efforts have been futile. Nithyananda's representative Vijayapriya used the UN meeting to speak about the so-called country and demand protection for the self-styled godman, but officials dismissed the remarks. And now, the US city of Newark has ended an agreement with 'Kailasa' terming the incident as "regrettable".

Nithyananda had posted several photos of his representatives meeting officials from Newark and signing an agreement on his official Facebook page. The sister-city agreement between Newark and the so-called 'Kailasa' was entered into on January 12 this year and the signing ceremony took place at City Hall in Newark.

Also Read | What Nithyananda's 'Kailasa' Has Been Up To In Past Few Years

But press secretary in the Department of Communications, City of Newark, Susan Garofalo told news agency that as soon as "we learned about the circumstances surrounding Kailasa, the City of Newark immediately took action and rescinded the sister city agreement on January 18".

"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," Ms 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 "has to 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.

'Kailasa' has always intrigued people, who want to know how a rape accused was able to set up his own country. Nithyananda believed to have set up the fictional country on one of the islands near Ecuador, but its photos are very hard to find.

Also Read | Where Is 'Kailasa'? Is It A Recognised Country? All You Need To Know

However, on social media, the self-proclaimed godman and his followers keep posting videos and photos of sermons and their interaction reportedly with diplomats from around the world.

On February 24, the representatives of 'Kailasa' attended a general discussion on General Comment on economic, social and cultural rights and sustainable development, hosted by Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

'Kailasa' is named after Mount Kailash in Tibet, considered sacred by Hindus. It also has a website, which says the place has been "created for and offers a safe haven to all the world's practicing, aspiring or persecuted Hindus".