Dhaka University teacher Samia Rahman, who was demoted for plagiarism in research papers, has claimed that she is a victim of "filthy politics" of the university teachers.
She also claimed on Monday that the letter of Chicago Journal based on which she had been demoted was "fake and fabricated".
"I've been a victim of the vengeance and dirty politics of the university teachers," the Mass Communication and Journalism Department teacher claimed at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
The DU authorities on January 28 last demoted three teachers, including Samia, for plagiarism.
Samia was demoted to assistant professor from associate professor. The article "A New Dimension in Colonialism and Pop Culture: A Case Study of the Cultural Imperialism" was jointly authored with DU lecturer Syed Mahfuzul Haque Marzan.
It was published in the DU Social Science Journal in 2016.
Samia claimed that she neither wrote nor submitted the article for which she was punished. She said Syed Mafuzul Haque Marzan, a lecturer of DU criminology department, wrote and submitted the article without her consent.
She said Marjan also gave a confessional statement in this connection.
"Indeed, the letter of Alex Martin of Chicago Journal based on which Dhaka University Syndicate formed an investigation committee and demoted me was totally false, fake and fabricated. No such letter was sent [to DU] from the Chicago Journal. I've been victim of a conspiracy," Samia said.
She claimed to have communicated with Craig Walker, the Editor of Chicago Journal, through social media and learned that there is no one with the Journal by the name of Alex Martin.
Replying to a question, she said she has been deprived of justice and sought interference of the President, the chancellor of the university.
Samia said that she would consider legal steps against the university's decision.
Following the publication of their article in the University's Social Science Journal, Alex Martin, who introduced himself as an administrative assistant of Chicago Journal, sent a written complaint to DU in 2017 claiming that the article copied from Michel Foucault's 'The Subject and Power'.
Later, the DU authorities formed an investigation committee to look into the allegation.
Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Aktaruzzaman could not be reached for comments.
