Speaking to PTI, Assistant Professor of International Law at Lucknow University, Bhanu Pratap, explained why micronations have no standing under current international law.”As far as micronations are concerned they are not subject matter of international law per se because they do not come within the traditional understanding of statehood. Article one of the Montevideo Convention mentions the rights and duties of a state, which are Population, Territory, Government and the ability to exercise formal relations with other countries.”Pratap noted that a UN committee once considered the idea of “Lilliput Nations” but rejected it. “Today, the only valid entity is the State. Either you are a state or not.” He compared the case to the self-styled “nation” of Kailasa founded by fugitive Indian spiritual leader Nithyanand, which too has “no legal standing.”Referencing the principle of “Uti possidetis,” Pratap elaborated, “On the date of your independence, whatever the map of your independent country is, it is considered final and now no more countries can be created using self-determination as a cause… The most factual question that we should ask is independence against what and why the independence?”Micronations have also yet to find serious consideration in Indian academia.”You have nation states, legally recognised states, sovereign independent states. There are some which are struggling for independence… But in academics and political science, we don’t have this term called micronations. I have never come across this word in textbooks,” said Prof Rajpal Budania of the Political Science department at the University of Allahabad.The International Relations expert warned that such entities could be used for “malafide purposes with malicious intentions, like the case in Ghaziabad. It’s unfortunate that a man could pull off something like this, and it is a failure of the police and intelligence.”He added that if the phenomenon shows relevance to society or global politics, “then it should definitely be studied.”
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