Talk:Nithyananda

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 8 February 2025

Change that he was added as 293rd pontiff of the Madurai Adheenam because the offer was withdrawn later the same year. AngriestOtter44 (talk) 01:12, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

 Done Thank you for the request P1221 (talk) 15:11, 28 February 2025 (UTC)

References

Revert the edit using abusive language against guidelines on BLP

Admins!! Please revert the latest edit on the page of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nithyananda calling him an abusive term of conman. It is not civil and against the Wikipedia principles on BLP to use abusive terms. Especially in the main introduction of a person who is followed by millions. Maxobrian (talk) 16:10, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

@SMcCandlish Maxobrian (talk) 16:14, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

The citation specifically says he is a cult leader & mentions fraud charges so "conman" is descriptive, not abusive. As for how many followers he has, that's totally irrelevant to the tone used in Wikipedia, which does not suck up to the powerful. After all Hitler had millions of followers. Claims that those with many followers should get preferential treatment also suggest an editor may have an agenda here other than improving a neutral objective encyclopedia, which is not allowed (see WP:NOTHERE) UrielAcosta (talk) 16:26, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

There is a difference between Wikipedia policies for biographies of dead people and those of living persons. Especially when there is no conviction against a person just going by hearsay and media hype is not in good taste and against guidelines. Wiki editors need to be aware that they can cause great harm to people when they pass judgement (such as referring to someone as a conman or worse) and pretend to be courts instead of clearly indicating in the sentence that their terminology comes from specific untrusted and usually unreliable news sources. 104.255.178.52 (talk) 20:08, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

Request edit on 1 July 2025

• What I think should be changed:

Remove the term "conman" from the article about Nithyananda.

• Why it should be changed:

Per Wikipedia's BLP policy (WP:BLPCRIME), "A living person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until convicted by a court of law." The term "conman" implies criminal conviction without providing evidence of such conviction. Additionally, Interpol has confirmed they have no active notices against Sri Nithyananda Swami and deleted all data concerning him, stating that retention of such data was "not compatible with INTERPOL's obligation to ensure effective cooperation between police authorities within the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." This is partially reported in public media and demonstrates that international law enforcement does not consider him a fugitive or criminal.

• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

The use of loaded language like "conman" violates Wikipedia's BLP guidelines which state: "Do not label people with contentious labels, loaded language, or terms that lack precision, unless a person is commonly described that way in reliable sources." Per WP:BLPSTYLE, articles should use "clear, direct language and let facts alone do the talking" rather than prejudicial terms.

SurekhaSekar (talk) 16:20, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

@SMcCandlish 104.255.178.108 (talk) 16:29, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

I really have little further interest in editing this article. It has sufficient watchlisters at this point that vandalistic edits (either hero-worship or slandering) are likely to be reverted fairly quickly, and edit-protected requests are likely to be addressed by other editors who know what they are doing.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:47, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

References

 Partly done: I’ve updated the lead to reflect what he is described by according to major outlets. The later mention clearly references sources describing their coverage so I see no reason to remove it. Dahawk04 (talk) 16:29, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

The media houses are not courts. Especially in dealing with Biography of Living Persons wikipedias own policy dictates using balance and sensitivity. Not just quoting some media houses. 104.255.178.108 (talk) 16:31, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

The above edit by Dahawk04 produces the required balance, and as much sensitivity as can be mustered given the subject's overwhelmingly negative coverage in available source material. There are no reliable, independent sources that are positive about this subject nor contradictory of the other sources' critical observations. Finally, whether sources "are ... courts" is irrelevant. Well, actually worse (for you) than irrelevant: courts' output consists of primary-source records, and we never use that kind of material for analytical or evaluative claims. The only time WP would properly cite an actual court document would be for specific quoted wording from it.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:47, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

Request for Rectification of BLP Issues on This Page, Considering Apology and Significant Content Revisions by CBC News (A Reliable Secondary Source and the Largest Media Company in Canada)

Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest I am a disciple and follower of Swami Nithyananda. My friend Mrs. Suzanne Davidson had sent a formal complaint to CBC Ombudsman for similar content (as on this wikipedia page) for their July 2023 radio (and web podcast) and article (previously) titled "How a Fake Nation Duped 3 B.C. Cities". Over a period next 10 months there was continuous back and forth with CBC, CBC evaluated all evidences, court orders, documents etc.

Editors of CBC decided to: 1. Take down their original podcast and issued an apology. ( https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-46-on-the-coast/clip/16091186-correction-story-july-13-2023 ). 2. Significantly revise the contents of the online article over multiple revisions (atleast 3 versions) Link to original article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fake-hindu-nation-scammed-bc-cities-signing-proclamation-1.6905234 or https://web.archive.org/web/20230715155723/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fake-hindu-nation-scammed-bc-cities-signing-proclamation-1.6905234

Link to revised article: (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hindu-nation-bc-cities-signing-proclamation-1.6905234 ).

The article's url slug, title and subtitle have been significantly revised in addition to the body.

As disciples and followers, we find content on this wikipedia page deeply hurtful and damages our dignity. The content on the wikipedia gets amplified as it is served through the AI platforms and AI agents, this directly affects how we are perceived. I sincerely request Wikipedia Editors to not ignore the extensive corrections done by CBC - a reliable secondary source from Canada. Please consider my inputs to incorporate relevant and reasonable perspectives in this Wikipedia page.

Some of the documented facts and links for reference along with my request as listed below:

CBC's Radio Apology (Aug 29, 2024) Transcripts

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-46-on-the-coast/clip/16091186-correction-story-july-13-2023

(emphasis mine) Right now our On the Coast producer Jake Costello is here with me in studio to revisit a story that this program aired July 13th of last year at this time. Thank you Gloria. Last year we ran a story about a group called the United States of Kailasa. At the time the municipalities of Surrey, Victoria and Nanaimo had proclaimed a special day of recognition at the request of the group, but then all three municipalities rescinded that recognition. Our reporting suggested that the United States of Kailasa misled the municipalities. We also reported on allegations before the courts. Unfortunately we went to air before Kailasa responded to these allegations. Their perspective was not presented as part of our reporting. We've removed the audio segment from our radio archives. We have also clarified the online version of the story and added an editor's note to alert readers to significant changes in the text. We apologize for our initial coverage of how the story unfolded and we are sorry for any harm this may have caused. Jake, thanks so much for that.

CBC Editor's Note (May 31, 2024) (as referenced in the radio apology above)

CBC's official correction states (from their current article, emphasis mine):

This story has been updated to clarify the allegations made against Nithyananda and to identify a source for that information. The story has also been updated to add additional context about Kailasa's presence in Canada and to remove descriptions of the actions of the United States of Kailasa for which there was no clear source. An audio segment previously embedded in the story has been removed, because it contained incomplete and imprecise information.

Note that CBC's revision was comprehensive - (1) while they added properly sourced information about Kailasa's Canadian presence, (2) they simultaneously removed content they could not properly source, (3a) they formally apologized (3b) acknowledging the potential harm their publications may have caused.

Specific Content Edit Requests based on CBC's revision

Current Wikipedia Text	CBC Retraction Basis	WP Policy Violation	Requested Action
"The general consensus among the mainstream press is that Kailaasa is a fictional 'fake country' and even a scam or con."	CBC removed "fake" and "fictional" (reason mentioned in Table-footnote-1)	WP:BLPREMOVE - Contentious material based on poorly sourced claims WP:LABEL - Contentious labels lacking precision	DELETE - Replace with neutral language like "nation" re-established based on principle of self-determination.
Any citations to sources using "duped," "cons," "scammed" language	CBC removed these characterizations with explicit apology. "Our reporting suggested that the United States of Kailasa misled the municipalities. We also reported on allegations before the courts. Unfortunately we went to air before Kailasa responded to these allegations. Their perspective was not presented as part of our reporting. We've removed the audio segment from our radio archives. We have also clarified the online version of the story and added an editor's note to alert readers to significant changes in the text."	WP:BLPREMOVE - Poorly sourced contentious material WP:BLPSTYLE - Not written in dispassionate tone	REVIEW and REMOVE sources that mirror CBC's retracted language calling Swami Nithyananda or the disciple community (KAILASA) as conmen.
References citing sources with headlines like "fake country Kailasa cons 30 US cities"	CBC removed "cons" and "fake" characterizations (refer Table-footnote-1)	WP:VERIFY - Sources fail verifiability standards WP:BLPREMOVE - Based on retracted claims	REMOVE or REPLACE with neutral citations
Any content derived from sources using "doesn't actually exist" language	CBC removed existence determinations (refer Table-footnote-1)	WP:BLPREMOVE - Unsourced contentious material WP:NPOV - Not neutral presentation	DELETE definitive existence/non-existence claims
Contrast: Properly sourced favorable content	CBC added information about "Kailasa's presence in Canada" including charitable activities and meditation academy (refer Table-footnote-2)	WP:NPOV - Neutral content with proper sourcing should be retained	RETAIN and EXPAND - CBC's example shows properly sourced neutral/favorable content is acceptable

- Table-footnote-1: The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (26 December, 1933), Article 3, establishes that 'the political existence of the state is independent of recognition by other states,' emphasizing the inherent rights of states to self-governance, territorial integrity, and political independence. Further, Article 13 of the 1948 Charter of the Organization of American States elucidates the independent exercise of these rights within the framework of international law: “The political existence of the State is independent of recognition by other States. Even before being recognized, the State has the right to defend its integrity and independence, to provide for its preservation and prosperity, and consequently to organize itself as it sees fit, to legislate concerning its interests, to administer its services, and to determine the jurisdiction and competence of its courts. The exercise of these rights is limited only by the exercise of the rights of other States in accordance with international law.” We asked if CBC would refer to any of the following as fictional nation in any of their articles (i) The Tibetan-Government-in-Exile (Since 1959), (ii) Portugal or Genoa that were occupied during the 18th century and re-established only after the Vienna Congress of 1815 as fictional nation for the period of time that they were annexed by a foreign power, (iii) Poland, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, Albania, or Austria which were similarly occupied by foreign powers and re-established only after World War II, (iv) The Sovereign Order of Malta that underwent a permanent loss of their territory, upon Napoleon's invasion in June 1798, (v) The Ukrainian Government-in-Exile (1940s-1991), (vi) The Royal Lao Government-in-Exile (Since 1975); Suzzane provided specific historical documentation, treaties, Sanads of ancient indigenous Hindu nations being revived as KAILASA. Subsequently considering the reasoning presented and documentation provided in the light of their editorial policies, CBC withdrew from refering to KAILASA as a fictional nation.

Table-footnote-2: Apart from the charitable food drive mentioned in the CBC article, in several Paraguay related articles it has been mentioned that KAILASA monks provided free medicine and donation for ambulance to local municipality. Right now, nowhere such chartiable activities are mentioned and the presentation.

Other Edits requests and Policy Compliance Reviews/Actions

1. DELETE the sentence: "The general consensus among the mainstream press is that Kailaasa is a fictional 'fake country' and even a scam or con." ; atleast give more BALANCED presentation because CBC is an exception and there are more media houses that have apologized and retracted. (Washington Post also retracted their article on Paraguay.).

2. REMOVE all citations to sources using "fake," "duped," "cons," "scammed" language patterns similar to CBC's retractions, or give more BALANCED presentation mentionoing that some media like CBC retracted such language.

3. Language audit: Identify and remove loaded terminology similar to CBC retractions

4. Neutral restructuring: Rewrite content to comply with WP:NPOV requirements

Insight2010 (talk) 04:27, 7 July 2025 (UTC)

References

Requesting edit in paragraph 3 related to harmful characterization of a living person and his community as a cult / scam / conman (especially in Wikipedia's voice)

I am making this request as a disciple of Nithyananda Swami and a member of His community (see my user page for COI declaration). I am raising concerns about potential BLP policy violations in the article's third paragraph.

What I think should be changed

The third paragraph currently states:

"A number of mainstream news outlets, inside and outside India... have referred to the organisation as a cult, its leader as a conman... and his micronation of Kailaasa a scam..."

This is followed by ~9 citations to various media outlets.

Request : The current wording adopts prejudicial language in Wikipedia's voice, affecting a religious community of living persons. This violates core BLP principles that apply regardless of how many sources use such language. I request that editors :

1. Recognize that BLP policy protects living persons and their communities from prejudicial characterization, even when sources exist
2. Either remove or rewrite the paragraph to avoid Wikipedia adopting these contentious labels in its own voice
3. Consider the full range of source coverage, including judicial findings and media retractions and corrections like CBC's.

Proposed solutions:

• Proposal 1: Remove the contentious paragraph entirely as it violates BLP policy regardless of sourcing.
• Proposal 2: Rewrite to maintain distance from contentious claims: "Media coverage of Nithyananda and his organization has included various characterizations. (citations) The organization has denied these characterizations. In 2024, the Gujarat High Court, after extensive proceedings, recognized the community members as following a 'spiritual path.' (citation)"
• Proposal 3: Use specific in-text attribution if retaining any characterizations: "In March 2023, New York Magazine described... (citation). Fox News characterized... (citation). However, CBC later retracted similar characterizations and apologized. (citation) The Gujarat High Court in 2024 recognized community members as following a 'spiritual path.' (citation)"

Why it should be changed

1. WP:BLP Groups - Application to religious communities: Per WP:BLP, "The extent to which the BLP policy applies to edits about groups is complex and must be judged on a case-by-case basis. A harmful statement about a small group or organization comes closer to being a BLP problem than a similar statement about a larger group." The term "cult" is applied not just to an individual but to an entire religious community of living persons. This affects the dignity and reputation of all community members, making this a clear BLP issue for the group.
2. WP:BLP LABEL - Contentious labels require more than just citations: BLP policy states: "Do not label people with contentious labels, loaded language, or terms that lack precision, unless a person is commonly described that way in reliable sources." While the paragraph cites multiple sources, simply having citations doesn't exempt contentious labels from BLP requirements. The policy requires that such labels be avoided in Wikipedia's voice, even when sources use them.
3. WP:WORDS - Manual of Style on value-laden labels: Per MOS:LABEL, "Value-laden labels – such as calling an organization a cult... may express contentious opinion and are best avoided unless widely used by reliable sources to describe the subject, in which case use in-text attribution." The current text presents these characterizations in Wikipedia's voice with a general attribution ("mainstream news outlets have referred to"), rather than specific in-text attribution showing which source made which claim.
4. WP:CHERRYPICKING - Selective use of sources: The paragraph compiles only negative characterizations from media coverage, ignoring:
   (i) The Gujarat High Court's characterization of the community as following a "spiritual path"
   (ii) CBC's retraction and apology for similar characterizations
   (iii) Other neutral or positive coverage.
   This selective presentation violates NPOV.

The core issue

1. Even with multiple citations, Wikipedia should not adopt contentious characterizations in its own voice.
2. Per BLP policy, we must write conservatively about living persons and their communities. Terms like "cult," "conman," and "scam" are inherently loaded and prejudicial.
3. Per WP:BLPREMOVE, contentious material about living persons that violates BLP policy should be addressed immediately.

References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button)

1. GUJARAT HIGH COURT ORDER AND OBSERVATIONS - On February 2, 2024, the Gujarat High Court exonerated Swami Nithyananda and our community of all false charges of abduction and kidnapping in its final order for case number R/SCR.A/9973/2019. The court directly interacted with the women (falsely portrayed by the media as if kidnapped) and took steps to independently verify the women's well-being and freedom, and unanimously concluded and stated in paragraph 22 (emphasis mine)

   "The Court satisfied that the both are adults, mature enough to understand their well being and apparently are happy at the place where they are presently proceeding and on their spiritual path."

   and also in paragraph 22 (emphasis mine)

   "Not only that, but they had also indicated that they are out of their free will residing at Jamaica and have decided to continue to reside there and follow the spiritual path which they have consciously intend to follow."

   (i) This characterization by the Gujarat High Court is a counter and a complete contrast to how some sections of the media has described our community as a cult, the court is recognizing us as on a spiritual path
   (ii) This was published/reported by mainstream media so there is a secondary source as well which is quiet explicitly highlighting that the spiritual path refraining from dehumanizing labels such as cult.
   (iii) This order is in strong contrast to the Disney/Discovery+ documentary - "My Daughter joined a cult" which has been highlighted in the paragraph three devoid of presentation of the court's view of the same after proceedings lasting 5+ years where the court made its final determination only after it ensured all due process measures and heard both sides (which the documentary DID not - there is not a single voice from our side in the documentary or any of the cited media articles which deeply hurts us and impacts our day to day life immensely).
2. THE CBC ARTICLE AND APOLOGY - CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), one of Canada's most reliable news sources, recently issued a formal apology and significantly revised their coverage after a complaint process. They
   (i) Removed characterizations like "fake" and "duped"
   (ii) Issued an on-air apology acknowledging they "went to air before Kailasa responded to these allegations"
   (iii) Added an editor's note about "significant changes in the text"
   (iv) Explicitly apologized "for our initial coverage" and "for any harm this may have caused".
   Refer their original article (current version will not match as it is heavily revised, this is a web.archive.org link): , the same CBC article after modifications: and the corresponding radio podcast apology
   This demonstrates that these characterizations (cult/scam/con) are disputed even among major media outlets.

SurekhaSekar (talk) 13:43, 11 July 2025 (UTC)

References

Request to add context the that allegations are merely a part of religious persecution and this has been presented to the UN

• What I think should be changed:

Add a sentence in the article clarifying that these allegations are merely part of religious persecution, and this has been presented to the UN.

• Why it should be changed:

The wikipedia page currently focuses heavily on criminal allegations without mentioning that the subject and devotees/community have characterized these as religious persecution and have formally presented this perspective to international bodies. This additional context would help readers understand that there are competing narratives about the nature of the allegations, consistent with Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy.

• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

Proposed addition: In opening of the page please mention along the lines -

"Through multiple written submissions and through various participations, Swami Nithyananda's community has presented their claims to the UN and various UN agencies and bodies, alleging that Swami Nithyananda is being persecuted and the allegations made against Him are false and part of a religious persecution by 'anti-Hindu elements' in India."

References

Controversies - Media Defamation

Please add:

"Hansraj Saxena, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Sun TV, admitted in a sworn affidavit that the channel had created a morphed video featuring Nithyananda and Ranjitha with the intent of extortion.[1]"

Please add:

"In a U.S. court ruling, Kannada news channel Samaya TV was fined $5 million for civil conspiracy and defamation. The court found that the channel had conspired with Vinay Bharadwaj, who was convicted in a separate child molestation case.[2][3]"

Peer reviewed legal Journal - secondary source https://supremoamicus.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/A27vol14.pdf page 7

Corroborating primary source about Vinay Bharadwaj - "In 2012, the trial court found Bharadwaj guilty of child molestation in the second degree. We affirmed his judgment and sentence on appeal." https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/court-of-appeals-division-i/2016/74013-0.html 47.145.251.166 (talk) 16:17, 2 August 2025 (UTC)