Fictitious Nation Blocked from Purchasing Land in Bolivia

Lake in the Bolivian Amazon. (Flickr)

The planned sale of indigenous-owned lands in Bolivia to the fictitious nation of Kailasa was halted on March 21st after Bolivian newspaper El Deber raised concern about the nation’s unsavory intentions. 

The nation of Kailasa is led by Nithyananda Paramashivam, a man who claims himself to be the “supreme pontiff of Hinduism.” Despite his self-anointed holy title, Paramashivam is accused of numerous crimes, including child abduction, rape, and sexual assault, and fled India in 2019 to evade legal repercussions. In an attempt to settle its following in a new country, Kailasa has tried to purchase land in New Jersey, Ecuador, and Paraguay in recent years, but all three deals fell through when local media reported on the nation’s history (or lack thereof), embarrassing local officials. In Paraguay, the fallout was bad enough to warrant the firing of a government official responsible for brokering the deal. 

This January, Kailasa made its latest attempt at finding a permanent home, opting to make offers to Bolivian indigenous groups. Kailasa had made significant progress in purchase deals with the Baure, Esse Ejja, and Cayubaba nations in the rural Andean and Amazonian regions of Bolivia. Deals typically involved yearly payments in exchange for 1,000-year leases on large swaths of the land owned by these Indigenous nations; the Baure, for example, were offered $108,000 yearly for 60,000 hectares of territory. The terms of the deal included full sovereignty and autonomy within the territory for Kailasa to establish its own administrative, legal, economic, cultural, and religious practices, control of who enters and exits the airspace over the land, and full exemption from taxes.

Although many of the groups contacted by Kailasa had already rejected the purchase of their land, El Deber reported that their March 15th piece resulted in the majority of the remaining contract negotiations falling through. On March 22nd, Rural Development Minister Yamil Flores clarified that all deals made by Kailasa within Bolivia would be considered null and void, and any members of the nation remaining in the country would be deported if they did not cease negotiations. Days later, the Bolivian foreign ministry denied having any relationship, formal or informal, with Kailasa. On April 9th, India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal emphasized India’s distaste for the situation, announcing that Paramashivam is a “fake guru” who “speaks only for himself.” 

This strange incident reflects the vulnerability of under-resourced communities, who may lack legal knowledge to prevent exploitation at the hands of predatory foreign actors. The successful removal of Kailasa from Bolivia and the role that investigative journalism played in it underscores the importance of vigilance and transparency in protecting community rights.