ISLAMABAD: A prestigious civilian award was on Monday conferred by President Mamnoon Hussain on an academic blacklisted by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Dr Masroor Ikram, a professor at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), included in the HEC’s list of plagiarists, was decorated with Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for his contribution towards the study of science in Pakistan.

Dr Ikram was among the four professors of PIEAS who were found guilty of plagiarism by the HEC. All the four are named as blacklisted ‘scholars’ on the HEC website.

Also read: HEC fails to take action against ‘plagiarist’ senior official

A senior HEC official said the commission did not have anything to do with the selection process for the awards. “The names of all the blacklisted ‘scholars’ are available on our website. We cannot comment on the person in question,” the official said.

According to the HEC website, Dr Ikram and three other professors co-authored a research paper which was found plagiarised by the HEC.

According to sources at the HEC, the authors submitted the paper to an international journal for publication. The journal editor, however, found the work to be plagiarised and contacted Pakistani authorities. An HEC official, requesting anonymity, said the plagiarism committee of the commission also found the work to be plagiarised and in January declared them blacklisted.

The authors were: Dr Shamraz Firdous, Dr Mushtaq Ahmed, Dr Mohammad Nawaz and Dr Masroor Ikram. The names are available on the HEC website. All the four authors will remain blacklisted for two years.

When contacted, spokesperson for the president, Samina Waqar, said she could not comment on the matter at the moment. “I will get back to you tomorrow after checking the records,” she said.

“The names of the award recipients are finalised after a long process which involves a thorough examination of the nominees by a cabinet committee,” she said.

Dr Ikram told Dawn that the HEC had wrongfully included his name in the list of plagiarists. “They blacklisted me in January on the basis of a research paper which was never published anywhere,” he said.

Dr Ikram said he was given Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in recognition of his services in the field of science, in particular cancer treatment.

He added that the PIEAS rector planned to take up the matter with the HEC. “We will ask them to remove my name otherwise I will go to court,” he said.

When asked why his institution had failed to take prompt action when his name was included in the list of plagiarists, he responded: “Earlier, we were busy with the PIEAS convocation.”

Published in Dawn March 24th , 2015

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