The ghosts of plagiarism refuse to leave the cultural arena. While a few weeks ago, Kerala was discussing the plagiarism row involving Deepa Nisanth, this time, it is about a poem which appeared in a college magazine in Kannur. It was an untitled poem published in the magazine 'Termite' of Nirmalagiri College, Kuthuparamba, that landed the SFI unit of the college in a soup, as the same poem was published in the magazine, 'Smiley', two years ago.
According to the KSU unit of the college, the poem by Abhinav P A in this year's magazine is an exact copy of the poem 'Raktham' by Ashbin Abraham, which was published in the magazine 'Smiley' released by the KSU union in 2014-15. The KSU leadership has asked the SFI union to apologise and withdraw the magazine.
Arjun E K, SFI unit secretary of Nirmalagiri college, however, said it was impossible to ensure the originality of each of the works given by the students for publishing. Each contributor was asked to give a testimonial to ensure the work given was their own. Abhinav also gave a statement the poem was his own work. It was on the basis of that the poem was published , said Arjun.It is not fair to blame the SFI alone in this incident, he said.
There was a committee which scrutinised the contributions of students given for the magazine. There was an editorial board. The magazine is not SFI's. It is the magazine of Nirmalagiri College. Treat it like that , said Arjun. Nobody has to apologise for the copying of the poem. But someone should give a clarification regarding the incident, said Ashbin. The art and literary works should not be copied. The followers of progressive movements should understand that, he said. The release of the magazine too had created a furore in the college as the KSU union blamed the SFI for the unjustifiable delay in bringing out the issue. The college authorities also said the incident would be investigated.
