Even the largest city in New Jersey is not exempt from being finessed.
Newark has admitted that its officials fell victim to a hoax, which involved them becoming a “sister city” with an Indian nation that was actually made up. In a Hulu-doc-worthy ordeal, the city held a signing ceremony on January 12th to commemorate its partnership with the “United States of Kailasa.” The relationship would have made Newark and Kailasa global allies through the Sister Cities International initiative, a nonprofit founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to offer community impact and unite U.S. cities with other cultures.
During the ceremony, Mayor Ras Baraka shared that he hoped the sisterhood between Newark and Kailasa “improves the lives of everybody in both places.” Though a sweet dream, the city of Newark soon realized that Kailasa is a completely falsified nation created by the self-proclaimed holy man Nithyananda. He is currently wanted in India for sexual assault and child abduction. Multiple juveniles told local media in India that Nithyananda tortured them and forced them into slavery. He has since fled the country for fear of his arrest.
An “official” website for Kailasa still contains the press release about the Newark partnership. The site offers “E-Citizenship” by scanning a QR code. However, no actual citizens exist there. Newark terminated the sisterhood after six days.
Spokesperson Susan Garofalo released a statement to the Indian news outlet IANS, calling the January ceremony “baseless and void.” However, she maintains that the city is still committed to being a sister city and enriching other regions as much as possible.
