The University of Peshawar issued a clarification on a news item pertaining to plagiarism stating certain elements from a political group were involved.
Through a rejoinder on Friday the administration stated, “This press conference is based on findings of the HEC committee which comes no surprise to the Vice Chancellor, University of Peshawar because the Higher Education Commission in its letter # 94-P/QA/HEC/UOP/2011/2097 dated 27/05/2011 written to the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had already decided to impose a penalty without forming any inquiry committee or procedure into the case.
The HEC thus already had jumped to conclusions without inquiring into the matter which shows a partial approach and mala fide intentions. This in fact was the only inquiry in history in which the author under investigation was not called before the committee. The plagiarism policy of HEC point number eight section“E“ clearly reads that the author under investigation must be provided opportunity to justify the originality of their concepts.
The press release states confidentiality should have been maintained, however, the story became public when HEC high ups became sources of information. It said the HEC plagiarism policy states it intends to guard victims of false accusations, however, the University of Peshawar Vice Chancellor was being victimized after more than two decades of completing his research and PhD since he had become VC and had taken administrative decisions against rule violators.
The press release said the VC had no questions asked during his time as faculty member, however, a campaign was launched when he took disciplinary action against a teacher belonging from the progressive group of University of Peshawar.
Plagiarism threshold: The HEC Plagiarism policy states plagiarism cases be dealt by respective universities and the threshold is setup by the concerned University in light of the Quality Assurance guidelines of HEC. The percentage of allowed threshold decided by meeting of the Advance Studies and Research Board of University of Peshawar in light of HEC Quality Assurance guidelines, in its meeting held on 25/11/2009 was 19% allowed matching (threshold) for published research articles and 25% for thesis.
The plagiarism allegations against the Vice Chancellor were looked in HEC recommended software and the result was shown to be 18%. This is the same software which is being used all over the country and by HEC. The same document was checked manually and the matching percentage of Kulwant Kaur Book Pak Afghan relations to that of Dr Azmat Hayat Khan book was 17%. It is also pertinent to note that both have quoted original sources with different citation numbers.
The press release stated the case was in court and an unbiased decision would be issued because the author would get a chance to explain his point of view and the facts of the matter. It said the University of Peshawar considered the HEC’s recommendation of a penalty and the press conference organized by them as contempt of court (against PHC decision) and will take the case to legal corners. It claims that the victimizing campaign is spear-headed by Zubair Mehsud. The press release denied Zubair was being targeted, as claimed by a newsreport, for raising his voice against the VC.
The press release said ex-Law College faculty member Zubair had been terminated for engaging in political activities against the VC’s directives and the used of defamatory language when issued show cause notice to explain his position on the matter.