BIRATNAGAR: The government has formed a five-member committee to investigate the incident involving the burning of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book The Governance of China at Manmohan Technical University in Morang. The investigation committee, formed under the leadership of Morang’s Assistant Chief District Officer Saroj Koirala, began work on Friday.

The committee includes Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lilaraj Lamichhane, Legal Officer Sunil Regmi from the Koshi Province Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law, Assistant Government Attorney Nawraj Ghimire from the District Government Attorney’s Office Morang, and Section Officer Prakash Gurung from the District Education Coordination Unit.

Morang’s Chief District Officer Yubaraj Kattel says, “The investigation committee has been given 15 days. A detailed report will be submitted after investigating what the truth is, who is responsible, and what should be done to prevent such incidents in future.”

How were the books penned by Chinese Prez Xi burnt?

Manmohan Technical University is located in Budhiganga-4, Hattimudha in Morang, about 10 kilometers north of the main Traffic Chowk market of Biratnagar. On the evening of 14 March, 2026, a video of copies of the book ‘The Governance of China’ burning at the university was made public. The books had been brought to Manmohan Technical University through the Pushpalal Memorial Foundation with the aim of introducing Chinese development models to Nepali readers. In fact, 29,000 copies of ‘The Governance of China’ had been brought to the university at one time. According to Foundation Chairman Jagannath Khatiwada, the books brought during the COVID-19 pandemic had been stored at the university.

“We had brought that book to explain the Chinese development model,” Khatiwada adds, “Of those, around seven thousand books have already been distributed to all 137 municipalities in Koshi Province. The remaining books were in the university’s own warehouse.”

Three warehouses inside the university are still filled with those books. According to Khatiwada, nearly 14,000 copies are currently safe. However, university Vice Chancellor Subhash Shri Pokharel says a mistake occurred while sorting ‘good’ and ‘bad’ items when clearing out the old automobile workshop of the Civil Engineering Department. According to him, the books were not burned intentionally. “A workshop was needed for students, so a decision was made to remove old items,” Pokharel says, “while burning documents that had been stored for a long time, were termite-eaten, and had rotted, The Governance of China ended up there by mistake. It was not done intentionally.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book ‘The Governance of China’ stored at Manmohan Technical University.

After footage of the Chinese president’s books burning at the university went viral on social media, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu lodged a written objection through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Taking the burning of their president’s book as a serious matter, the Chinese Embassy demanded action, following which the Ministry of Home Affairs assigned the District Administration Office Morang the responsibility of investigating the incident.

Although Manmohan Technical University claimed it burned ‘termite-infested books,’ adequate precautions do not appear to have been taken before destroying the books and other old materials. Following the incident, some have called it staff negligence while others have interpreted it as a simple mistake.

According to a press release issued by the university on 15 March following the incident, the incident occurred while work was underway to build a laboratory in the university’s Civil Engineering Department. The press release states: “During the cleaning process, while managing completely damaged and other scrap materials, some books that had rotted, deteriorated, and been eaten by termites were destroyed. We hereby declare that books and materials in good condition have been separated and kept safely.”