Allegations of plagiarism Professor seeks to set record straight University of Karachi
Karachi:University of Karachi (KU) National Nematological Research Centre (NNRC) Director Dr Shahina Fayyaz has rejected the accusations of plagiarism levelled against her and a doctoral student of hers by a former student, and has sought to explain the matter to erase what she termed as unfounded allegations.
“I want to clarify that I was made professor on merit by the vice chancellor of the university and the KU Syndicate, and this was despite objections raised by Botany Department Chairperson Dr Surayya Khatoon,” Fayyaz said.
She said that both Tabassum Ara Khanum and Muhammad Anis, the accused and the accuser respectively, were her research students, and thus there could not be any case of plagiarism. “I cannot be party to any dispute, nor can I favour any particular student”, she said. “I was aware of the facts about the theses written by my students, and I can vouch that Khanum wrote the thesis herself, and also made all citations. Anis’ name was also mentioned as one of her sources,” she said.
Fayyaz said that the problem was that Khanum had written the name of an Indian researcher on one page, but did not mention Anis on the same page. “Khanum honestly thought that he (Anis) was not the main source,” she said.
She said that both students were admitted through Board of Advanced Study and Research (BASR) Resolution number 19 (2), dated 4, 9, 19 and 21/3/1998. Both students had opted for the conversion of their M. Phil into PhD.
In Anis’ case, he completed his Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) project in three years, but did not submit his PhD thesis. Khanum, however, submitted her PhD thesis on 21/03/05. The BASR subsequently approved her thesis, while she also cleared her viva conducted by Dr Riaz Ahmed Chaudhry from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
Fayyaz alleged that Khanum’s thesis was illegally taken from the BASR by Anis on the day she was to be awarded the PhD degree. Anis then filed a complaint against Khanum, stating that she had plagiarized from his thesis. “Khanum and I were not informed about the latest situation that the degree award was held pending investigation.
A committee was formed to decide if Khanum has plagiarised from someone else’s thesis, which subsequently unilaterally passed a verdict against her. Fayyaz maintained that a clear case of conflict of interest emerged when Anis enrolled himself with Dr Javed Zaki of the Botany department, who was part of the committee.
Zaki however refuted these allegations, stating that that he was ‘chosen’ (by the BASR) to guide the student. “I was the only one, after Dr Fayyaz, who was qualified as an expert of the subject. There is no foul play here,” he said.
Dr Fayyaz thinks otherwise. “The student did not even fill the admission form for induction as a fresh PhD student, no synopsis was submitted and no NOC was sought from me (it was required at the time),” she said. “There is foul play in the matter, but it is being swept under the carpet by the powerful ‘education mafia’ that surrounds the VC.”
