Another DU teacher accused of plagiarism

Dhaka University (DU) teacher Mohsina Akhter Khanam, also known as Leena Taposhi Khan, has been accused of plagiarism in her book by a former bureaucrat.

Prof Iffat Ara Nargis, former education secretary and former director of National Academy for Education Management (NAEM), made the allegations against the associate professor of music department in a press conference held at Dhaka University Journalists' Association office on Sunday.

“Due to my keen interest in music, I collected Leena Taposi Khan’s book ‘Use of Ragas in Nazrul Songs’ and found some similarities between her book and three/four books I had read before,” Iffat said.

“The 80-page notation in the book has been scanned and inserted as the main text, which is unethical. This notation could have been included in the appendix as it is not supposed to be included in the main text. This is a kind of plagiarism,” she added. 

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She said a total of 169 pages – 80-page notation was copied, 26 pages were taken from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s book, 46 pages from Kakoli Sen’s book, and 17 pages of appendix – were not written by Leena Taposi Khan out of the 280-page book.

“Previously I placed a complaint to the authorities concerned with necessary documents, but I have yet to get any response,” She further said.

Leena Taposhi Khan dismissed the allegation as false and fabricated.

She said: “I did my job as per the instructions provided by the supervisor. I completed my PhD 12 years ago and now she raises her voice against me. Who is she [Iffat] to raise her voice? Did she complete any research? 

“Nobody before me worked on this topic. This research is different from other research areas,” she added.

Leena Taposhi Khan described the allegations against her as vindictive and said Prof Iffat was involved in a deceptive act of self-promotion. “I will protest this via written complaint.”

Earlier, three faculty members from Dhaka University faced disciplinary actions due to plagiarism in their research papers.