# New country established by fugitive guru from India. How is this going to play out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421 "2019-12-05T18:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/21 "2019-12-06T02:06:12Z")
Very disappointing. Their “citizenship” link gives a 404 error. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/22 "2019-12-06T03:32:38Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Very disappointing. Their “citizenship” link gives a 404 error. I expect that’s about how it works in practice, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/23 "2019-12-06T03:32:48Z")
The very first thing I saw on the new nation’s website was > [@](#): > > Kailaasa is a nation without borders created by dispossessed Hindus from around the world What does a nation without borders need with an island? Looking at it another way, wouldn’t a nation without borders claim everything on Earth as its territory? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/24 "2019-12-06T03:36:49Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Very disappointing. Their “citizenship” link gives a 404 error. I noticed that. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/25 "2019-12-06T05:20:34Z")
Wait, I can buy an island on-line now? Does that include shipping and handling? ETA: > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Very disappointing. Their “citizenship” link gives a 404 error. He may have tried to pay his ISP with Kailaasan Rasbuckniks. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/26 "2019-12-06T11:46:30Z")
Yup, that’s just what the world needs and lacks, a majority-Hindu nation. Demographers have long predicted that it’s, like, literally around THIS WEEK that such a nation would become the largest (in population) in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/27 "2019-12-06T15:06:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You’re country when other countries won’t or can’t stop you from acting like a country. Agreement is a bonus. Yep. It really boils down to two steps. 1. Declare yourself a sovereign nation. 2. Make it stick. I know that seems flip but that’s all it takes. Assert your sovereignty against all comers - likely the last government to consider itself sovereign over that piece of land - and hope for recognition from other governments. If this nation manages to remain sovereign for a number of years against the wishes of the Ecuadoran government then it can be considered to have worked. It might achieve that through diplomatic or military means. It could even achieve it through a lack of concern from others. There’s a thing in baseball where, if a runner steals a base and the pitching team doesn’t contest it the runner doesn’t get credit for the act and the movement is considered to have been achieved through ‘defensive indifference’. It’s possible to achieve sovereignty through the same thing. If Ecuador basically says, ‘Who the hell cares? Knock yourself out.’ then voila! It’s a country with all the headaches and rights that entails. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/28 "2019-12-06T16:17:50Z")
They claim a population of 2 billion practicing Hindus. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/29 "2019-12-06T17:03:39Z")
The issue of Kailaasa’s sovereignty might be irrelevant to Nithyananda’s fate, even in the extremely unlikely event that it becomes recognized as a sovereign nation. Nithyananda is not residing on the island he allegedly bought. He fled India when facing criminal charges and it’s not clear what country he’s currently in. (Ecuador, Haiti, and Mauritius are all mentioned as possibilities.) But whatever country he’s in, he’s not there as a diplomatic representative and therefore he has no legal immunity. He’s just a private citizen of either Indian or Kailaasan nationality (depending on how you look at it). So the country he is in can arrest him and extradite him back to India. If Nithyananda wants to be legally protected by the Kailaasan government, he’s going to have to move into Kailaasa itself, wherever it may be. (It’s not clear where the island is and there are conflicted stories about which ocean it’s located in.) ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/30 "2019-12-06T19:33:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The issue of Kailaasa’s sovereignty might be irrelevant to Nithyananda’s fate, even in the extremely unlikely event that it becomes recognized as a sovereign nation. > > Nithyananda is not residing on the island he allegedly bought. He fled India when facing criminal charges and it’s not clear what country he’s currently in. (Ecuador, Haiti, and Mauritius are all mentioned as possibilities.) > > But whatever country he’s in, he’s not there as a diplomatic representative and therefore he has no legal immunity. He’s just a private citizen of either Indian or Kailaasan nationality (depending on how you look at it). So the country he is in can arrest him and extradite him back to India. > > If Nithyananda wants to be legally protected by the Kailaasan government, he’s going to have to move into Kailaasa itself, wherever it may be. (It’s not clear where the island is and there are conflicted stories about which ocean it’s located in.) The reason he hasn’t done this is probably because legal protection from the Kailaasan government isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. If he turned up there and India really wanted him they could just ask Ecuador to hand him over. (Would Ecuador comply? I dunno what their extradition rules are.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/31 "2019-12-06T20:35:32Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > [Fugitive Indian guru establishes 'cosmic country off Ecuador' | India | The Guardian](https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/05/fugitive-indian-guru-establishes-island-nation-off-ecuador) > [@](#): > > Applications are open for those who want to apply for citizenship and a passport, which allows for “free entry in all 11 dimensions and 14 lokas [the 14 worlds of Hinduism] including Kailaasa”. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, RealID! ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/32 "2019-12-07T01:45:47Z")
I recall someone saying they wanted to be rich enough to buy Scotland. When asked, “What the fuck would you do with Scotland? How would you run the place?” the reply was, “Oh, I don’t want to actually RUN it. I just want to be rich enough, so I could.” That’s the problem with owning a country. You either expend much effort trying to rule, or let someone else do so. In which case, why buy it in the first place? A vanity project, sure. Welcome to RioRicoLand! The old seven-mile maritime boundary rule was based on artillery range. If you could defend it, it was yours. Any private self-proclaimed “nation” needs good cannons to back any claim of independence. Mao was right: political power DOES grow from the barrel of a howitzer. (I need to bury landmines along my property lines.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2019, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/33 "2019-12-07T03:37:54Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Nope. He, as the new owner, is still going to have to pay property taxes to Ecuador. And income tax, if he expects to be protected from extradition by living there. And comply with all other laws and regulations of Ecuador. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2019, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/34 "2019-12-07T03:42:46Z")
[Rajneeshpuram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram) anyone? > [@Senegoid](#): > > Wait, I can buy an island on-line now? Islands have been available to be purchased for quite a while now. I recall some being listed in eBay’s Big Ticket section. ---
**Author:** ![barath\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/90ced4/32.png) [@barath\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barath_s)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/35 "2019-12-07T17:07:00Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Yup, that’s just what the world needs and lacks, a majority-Hindu nation. > > . Nepal is a hindu majority nation and for a time was the world’s only hindu nation… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/36 "2019-12-07T22:48:16Z")
If the drug runners recognized him that might help the sovreignity issue. A “bank” could be established, with their own currency, and poof! A place to launder money. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/37 "2019-12-07T23:20:25Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > They claim a population of 2 billion practicing Hindus. Dude gets a private island “without borders” and his adoring fans (probably a couple of thousand anyway) claim they are really residents of whereverthefuckitis, send him $100 a month or what ever the rate is for the most recent god for the privilege or claiming whereverthefuckitis is where they really live. Pretty good scam. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/38 "2019-12-17T01:53:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The whole thing sounds pretty bogus to me. In particular, the [location of the supposed island is pretty confused:](https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/is-nithyanandas-kailaasa-a-territory-or-a-state-of-mind-6150786/) Yeah, anyone with a vague notion of South American geography knows that it’s nonsensical. Several well known websites were parroting that stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/39 "2019-12-17T02:16:22Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > If the drug runners recognized him that might help the sovreignity issue. A “bank” could be established, with their own currency, and poof! A place to launder money. On the other hand doing that would have an excellent change of getting an actual nation to care enough to send a military force there to explain to him why pissing off people with a military is a bad idea when you \*don’t \*have a military. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421/40 "2019-12-17T16:28:09Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > WTF is he even talking about in that video? Can anyone else figure it out? Maybe my non-veg brain just isn’t capable. I don’t get it either. Does “non-veg brain” here mean the brain of a meat-eater? Is he saying that if you eat meat, you’re not capable of understanding his [del]nonsense[/del] teachings? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-country-established-by-fugitive-guru-from-india-how-is-this-going-to-play-out/844421.md?page=3)