The news of confirmation of plagiarism having been committed by the University of Peshawar’s Vice Chancellor (VC) has created serious doubts over the quality of the research by the university’s academia. It looks like there is an urgent need for the provincial government to take control of all accountability matters including the establishment of a special body that can receive and act on complaints of academic fraud committed by the university’s faculty.VC Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan’s involvement in plagiarism is indeed a shocking case in the university’s history. But is it the only case of academic fraud committed by a senior official of the university? Is the rest all fine? Apparently, what exposed the VC’s plagiarism is the strength of one man who stood and spoke up against it—assistant professor at the university’s Law College Mr. Muhammad Zubair. For this, he was suspended and even threatened of serious consequences. Yet, he kept the country’s responsible institutions astir to investigate the matter and inform the nation of the truth of the matter.
While the HEC tacitly submitted its report to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s governor, media’s watchful eye didn’t fail in catching the air of it, and now it’s all over the place. However, neither has the competent authority—the province’s governor—taken any action upon the HEC’s report nor has Mr. Zubair been provided justice by restoring his services. Still, the struggle against academic quackery has brought the fruit of increased awareness and civil society organizations and activists are demanding justice by immediate removal of the VC proven guilty of plagiarism.
But in this enthusiasm about punishing the wrongdoers, all concerned must remember that there is no objective and independent body to keep a check on academic performance of the professors and other faculty members of the university. If Dr. Khan plagiarized his PhD thesis, was it not approved and he awarded a PhD degree 10 years ago. No one here is asking the question how come he dodged his supervisor(s) and the academic committees or bodies responsible for checking plagiarism and verifying that a scholar’s work is really his/her own research. If Dr. Khan is guilty of plagiarism, those who awarded him the degree are proven equally responsible for letting academic fraud take its course.
Since Mr. Zubair is an exceptional case of courage and steadfastness, it mustn’t be overlooked that most of the university’s enrolled students and junior employees are entirely helpless in reporting academic frauds even if they find these around them. They fear retribution and permanent damage to their studies and/or career by the university’s administration, which is a closely connected network of senior faculty and their bosom buddies. In effect, this means no accountability and no check on academic fraud—something that has been prevalent in the this institution for no one knows how long and has by now escaped any significant media attention.
The case of plagiarism by the VC should be made just a starting point of a thorough and strict check on all research studies that lead to either the publication of a research paper (for which the author gets paid extra money) to an academic degree, particularly the postgraduate degrees (for which the supervisor gets credit , useful for promotion). There must be a government body that, preferably in cooperation with International academia, must check the originality and scope of all research conducted in the university. Postgraduate theses that have been approved and degrees awarded must be rechecked independently by a provincial government’s committee in order to catch the thieves who, in the guise of academicians, have been looting this sacred institution of the nation with both hands. As they say, it’s never too late to mend.
