I am pleased that The Express Tribune has given Dr Laghari space in the newspaper and he has explained his position.
KARACHI: The editorial titled “Stolen Words” (January 29), which has judged former chairman of the Higher Education Commission Dr Javaid Laghari to be guilty of plagiarism comes as a surprise. While I did not have the privilege of being his student at SUNY Buffalo, NY, USA, having spent my post-graduate days at the same institution, I do wish to share with your readers and your editorial staff that Dr Laghari was held in high esteem. Anyone aware of the process of qualifying as full-time faculty in the US would also be aware that the body of research attributed to the academic has to meet stringent standards recognised by leading US universities.
I believe that The Express Tribune should have solicited Dr Laghari’s views before the publication of the said editorial. I am pleased that The Express Tribune has given Dr Laghari space in the newspaper and he has explained his position in his article “I am not a plagiarist” (January 31). While the damage to his credibility has been done, Dr Laghari should know that even if this provides little comfort, that he has the support from people who know him from his days as a fully tenured professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, NY, USA.
Naveed Siraj
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2014.
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