Nithyananda and Ranjitha claimed the video to be fabricated and accused Sun TV of extortion. A forensic sciences laboratory in Bengaluru confirmed that the video appeared to be that of Nithyananda and Ranjitha.
Born as A. Rajasekaran, in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu Nithyananda claims to have received enlightenment at the age of 12. The self-styled godman with multiple Ashrams and millions of disciples across the country faced tough times in 2010.
When Sun TV telecast video recordings that claimed to show Nithyananda and actress Ranjitha (who was one of his followers) in a bedroom. The story became viral among news media in Tamil Nadu.
Nithyananda and Ranjitha claimed the video to be fabricated and accused Sun TV of extortion. A forensic sciences laboratory in Bengaluru confirmed that the video appeared to be that of Nithyananda and Ranjitha.
The same year a United States citizen who was a disciple of Nithyananda accused him of raping her in the US and in India repeatedly over the course of five years.
She filed a complaint with the police department of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which did not commence any formal investigation. She also filed a complaint with the Karnataka Police in India.
In 2012 When the police evicted the occupants of Nithyananda’s ashram in Bidari on Bangalore’s outskirts and searched the premises, they were horrified to find a dump of condoms and ganja in the corner of a compound. The police sealed the ashram for further investigation.
“I have directed the investigators to frame a perfect chargesheet against Nithyananda and I will ensure that this is so. We do not encourage such immoral people in Karnataka and I am going to make an example out of Nithyananda.” These were the words of the then CM of Karnataka, D.V. Sadananda Gowda(BJP), However, life had other plans for the Godman.
Soon the Ramanagara police arrested Nityananda. after his bail was rejected by the court. In February 2018, the Third Additional District and Sessions Court in Ramanagara ordered the framing of charges against Nithyananda and five others in relation to the case. Criminal revision petitions by the accused were dismissed in the Karnataka High Court on 16 May 2018.
An appeal against the High Court decision in the Supreme Court of India, in which all of the accused pleaded not guilty (except for one who was absent from court), was dismissed on 1 June 2018.
In 2019, a couple from Tamil Nadu approached the High Court of Gujarat claiming that three of their four children were taken to Nithyananda’s ashram in Ahmedabad from Bangalore without their knowledge; the couple sought the return of their children to their custody.
A first information report (FIR) for the alleged abduction was filed by the Gujarat Police in relation to the case on 17 November 2019.
In affidavits filed in the Gujarat High Court from various locations in the Americas, two of the missing children, who were by that time adults, rejected their father’s claim that they have been detained forcibly.
What followed was stunning, In a joint live video statement, the two girls claimed that their father had plotted the abduction controversy after his name cropped up in an embezzlement case.
Fleeing India:
On 20 November 2019, the Gujarat Police issued a statement that Nithyananda fled India after choosing not to appear at several court hearings.
Some senior police officials did not discount the possibility of him still being in India. He subsequently approached the United Nations complaining about persecution and sought recognition for his new country Kailaasa.
Nithyananda also claimed attempts at mob lynching and assassination as reasons he was forced to withdraw himself from Indian society.
The Gujarat Police alleged that he could be shuffling between Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago, while news reports said that he may have gone to Ecuador because the country does not have an extradition treaty with India.
The same month, the Embassy of Ecuador said that it “categorically denies the statement wherever published that Nithyananda was given asylum by Ecuador or has been helped by the Government of Ecuador in purchasing any land or island in South America”, but has confirmed Nithyananda had reached Ecuador after he left India, then left soon after his request for international personal protection (refuge) was denied. In 2020 Interpol issued a ‘blue notice’ against the self-styled godman.
Kailaasa island nation (The Hindu Nation)?:
In December 2019, Nithyananda declared that he had created a new “Hindu nation” called Kailaasa (also known as Shrikailasa) and claimed to issue passports, currency, and other documents.
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.” Nithyananda claims that Kailaasa is the world’s only sovereign Hindu nation.
Where Is Kailasa?:
Several reports have claimed that Nithyananda’s country is set up on one of the islands near Ecuador however, No one is sure where Nithyananda’s Kailasa is. USK (United States of Kailasa) claims to have a flag, constitution, economic system, passport, and emblem.
Why did Nithyanad Send A Representative To The UN?:
USK claims to have a flag, a constitution, an economic system, a passport, and an emblem too, it is currently struggling to get a country status and is a micronation.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, micronations are self-proclaimed entities claiming to be independent sovereign states but are not recognized by the international community or the UN. Nithyananda sent the representatives of ‘Kailasa’ to the UN in a bid to gain acceptance at an international forum.
But the UN called the submissions made by Vijayapriya Nithyananda “irrelevant” and that those will not be considered in the final outcome drafts. Once recognized by the UN, a country gets access to many international forums, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
What did they claim in the UN?
Vijayapriya Nithyananda, who claims to be “the permanent ambassador of (so-called) the United States of Kailasa”, had said that controversial godman Nithyananda is being “persecuted by anti-Hindu elements” in his birthplace India.
However, days after the speech made headlines she clarified USK’s stance: “I would like to clarify that I stated that the SPH Bhagavan Nithyananda Paramashivam is persecuted in his birthplace by certain anti-Hindu elements. The United States of KAILASA holds India in high regard and respects India as its Gurupeedam. Thank you,” Vijayapriya said in a statement.
Centro Argentina, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne Aadheenam, Perth, and Queensland are some of the places which have the Kailasa ashram.
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