The fake nation of Kailasa

Today, Explained

Vox

Politics, Daily News, News

4.3 • 10.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Newark officials rescinded a sister city agreement with the United States of Kailasa after finding out it wasn’t actually a real place. Reporter Sushmita Pathak explains how a fugitive cult leader from India created a fake nation that conned everyday people, government officials, and the UN. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Amina Al-Sadi and Amanda Lewellyn, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Earlier this year in a ceremony at City Hall, Newark New Jersey entered into a partnership.
0:07.0	Mayor Ross Baraka invited what he thought was the Hindu nation of Kailasa for a cultural
0:12.3	trade agreement.
0:13.4	The Newark City officials attending the ceremony look bored as a woman in an orange sorry
0:18.2	with a unique left arm tattoo takes the stage and makes some remarks.
0:28.4	All of this though would become a lot less boring just a few weeks later.
0:32.3	Turns out Kailasa isn't a real nation but rather the invention of a scam artist and
0:37.3	fugitive who's from India.
0:39.3	The self proclaimed leader of Kailasa likely knew that people wouldn't bother to look
0:44.3	things up because this was not his first time misleading people wildly.
0:48.8	Coming up on today explained a cult leader for the internet age.
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	...

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