LAHORE – After Peshawar University Vice Chancellor Dr Azmat Hayat Khan’s involvement in plagiarism, a Punjab University (PU)’s teacher has been allegedly found copying from the research article of an Indian professor.
PU Professor Safder Ali Sherazi allegedly copied from a Sikh professor’s research paper on Indian Punjab’s climate and applied its findings to the climate of Pakistani Punjab.
Sherazi also got published the plagiarized research paper in a research journal “Geographical Paper” of Karachi University. He is also accused of hacking the email addresses of his colleagues. PU teachers have demanded the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and varsity administration check Sherazi’s paper for plagiarism and take notice of rising incidents of plagiarism by PU teachers.
The new case has once again left the HEC grappling with the plagiarism issue. The HEC officials are asking the teaching community to identify the black sheep among the community. Over the last five years, the HEC has spent millions of rupees trying to eradicate the menace of plagiarism in the public sector universities. The commission installed plagiarism software in public sector universities and terminated quite a few teachers for involvement in plagiarism.
In regard to Sherazi’s case, a PU teacher, who requested anonymity, told Pakistan Today that Sherazi who is an expert in cheating the results and calculations, copied from the Indian professor’s paper on Indian Punjab’s climate and applied the same to Pakistani Punjab. He said that Sherazi not only got his paper published but also delivered a lecture excerpted from that plagiarized paper at Forman Christian College University (FCCU) on 11-11-2010.
He said the teachers would soon provide proof against Sherazi to HEC and varsity administration. A PU teacher, Dr Farooq, confirmed that Sherazi was involved in plagiarism. He alleged that Sherazi also hacked his email address and got credit for his research work and went to South Africa to read that paper by posing as its first author.
He said that Sherazi had mentioned six papers in his CV as his research work, which was untrue. Another PU teacher said that ‘unscrupulous’ Sherazi tried to steal PhD thesis of his two colleagues but the PU’s computer department head thwarted his attempt. He said the department’s chairman, Dr Abdul Ghaffar was a close friend of Sherazi and he turned a deaf ear to complaints against him.
Another PU faculty member, Professor Munawar Sabir, said that Sherazi tampered with a certificate by replacing his name with his own and got the best teacher award from the varsity. He said that Sherazi was placed in fourth position but by tampering with the certificated he got the award. A PU admin official, seeking anonymity, said that Sherazi was involved in various cheating cases but all complaints against him have fallen on stony ground.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Sherazi denied allegations against him and said some teachers who were jealous of him were trying to vilify him.
