Hari Bahadur Thapa’s ‘Rajgaj’ out in market

KATHMANDU: Former chief justice Shushila Karki launched ‘Rajgaj’ by Hari Bahadur Thapa at Pearl Hall, Trade Tower Nepal on Tuesday. The book discusses deep-rooted corruption in the country’s corporate sector.

Tanka Acharya, host for the show, made it exciting by regaling few interesting and true instances of corruption tendencies in the country. Along with Karki and author Thapa, Chief Editor of Kantipur Daily Sudhir Sharma, Lawmaker Radheshyam Adhikari and member of Human Rights Commissions Prakash Owsti were also present on the occasion.

"We live in a country so corrupt that one faces repercussions if he denies taking bribes,” said Karki. Referencing her years in the legal services she said, "I have observed a trend among Nepalis to let corruption happen until it directly hampers their position.” She added that the book highlighted the prevalence of bribery, posed contrast to the tendency and showed solidarity against corruption. “We should adopt this path shown by Thapa and denounce corruption at every level."

A common sentiment across the guests’ panel was that the book dealt effectively in terms of identifying the state’s weakness as well as the conflict of interest in the parliament. Members of the panel deemed the book an unbiased read based on their prior knowledge on how the writer had made significant efforts in marking and analyzing the country's economic as well as political scenarios.

"Corrupt people have no countries; their eyes are only set on accumulating properties," said Owsti. He further applauded the book saying Thapa’s effort to understand corruption tendencies in the country's corporate sector was exemplary.

History has always been written by the well off members of the society: the rulers. This tendency discards evidences regarding the nuances of lives of laymen community. "The book however incorporates small details such that it serves as a complete reference book for history,” said Owsti.

Adding further, he stated that the book was not a one-time read. "Although few details in the book can be termed as the writer's opinion, most of them are backed by data. The details mentioned here can be effectively quoted in any academic writing."

Not only that, he suggested the only possible fallback of the book might be the fact that the writer has explained only two instances of parliamentary conflict of interest. “If Thapa] could have delved deeper into varied issues, the book would be a complete guide to Nepali socio-political environment.”