Embarrassing: Newark, NJ Suspends ‘Sister City’ Cultural Trade Deal with the United States of Kailasa Because Kailasa Doesn’t Exist

  Sister City Signing, Newark, New Jersey   In January, Newark Mayor Democrat Has Baraka announced that the city entered into a cultural-tra...

 

Sister City Signing, Newark, New Jersey

 

In January, Newark Mayor Democrat Has Baraka announced that the city entered into a cultural-trade deal with  “sister city” the United States of Kailasa. Kailasa, according to the announcement, is one of India’s emerging independent Hindu nations.

At a January signing ceremony, Baraka shared, “I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places that helps us to understand where we are and who we are and our connectivity to one another and helps us to become better people in this process, better people individually and as cities and nations.”

Kailasa has an impressive flag and emblem and their website shares a rich and detailed history.

United States of Kaila Flag and Emblem

 

The only problem is that Kailasa does not exist.

New Jersey News 12 reports:

Newark officials apparently thought they were getting involved in a cultural and trade deal with one of India’s emerging independent Hindu nations. But in reality, Kailasa is fake.

“I think that’s embarrassing. He didn’t do his background research before entertaining that,” says Newark resident D.J. Simon.

A spokesperson for the Newark mayor’s office tells News 12 that as soon as they learned of the circumstances, they immediately took action to cancel the sister city agreement. It was almost a week later when they discovered everything was a lie.

The made-up country has a website that shows its flag and talks about its mission and values. There are even pictures of the day that the deal was signed in Newark.

The deal has been voided, but the main question that remains is how easy is it to fake a country and sign a deal with a major city within the United States.

“If you don’t do your due diligence, anybody can get scammed,” Simon says.

Newark officials say that they remain committed to partnering with people from different cultures to enrich each other with connection, support, and mutual respect.

The story becomes less amusing.  Somehow a Kailasa representative joined a discussion at a UN discussion.

In March, at a general discussion event at the UN’s Economic, Social and Cultural rights committee,  a woman identifying herself as Vijayapriya Nithyananda spoke about the persecution of Supreme Pontiff of Hindus, Bhagavan Nithyananda Paramashivam, in India.

According Firstpost.com Vijayapriya shared that “Nithyananda was banned from preaching and was exiled from his birth country. She said that she is representing the United States of Kailasa, a ‘country’ set up by Nithyananda, in her capacity as its permanent ambassador to the UN.”