Nithyananda’s fictional nation of ‘Kailasa’ worms way into UN panel

Representatives of fugitive self-proclaimed godman Swami Nithyananda’s fictional nation of ‘Kailasa’ have wormed their way into a UN committee’s discussion on sustainable development in Geneva creating the false impression that the world organisation has recognised it. At a general discussion on Sustainable Development held by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on February 24, two persons spoke during the part of the session open to the public claiming to be from the “United States of Kailasa (USK)”. The USK is not among the 193 countries recognised by the UN, which has stringent rules for admission that require the approval of both the Security Council and the General Assembly. The UN human rights outfits in Geneva are very generous in allowing people to come in and speak at open sessions of their meetings, often drawing charlatans and dubious organisations who make weird claims and the organisations’ open procedures allow them to submit presentations that are included in their archives, which make it seem official. Seldom do real countries that are attacked care to respond as it is acknowledged that the participation of the fringe groups is but a circus and engaging with them will only appear to give them legitimacy.