Pipilika Search Engine: A Hidden Tale of Deception and Betrayal - Frequently Asked Questions:

Ruhul Amin Shajib's contribution was the primary reason behind the recognition, fame, and success of Pipilika.

We do not deny the significance of his role in raising investments, providing leadership, and other aspects crucial to Pipilika's success. However, even if his contribution were multiplied sixfold or a hundredfold, it would not justify denying rightful recognition to others. Regardless of his involvement, he has unjustly withheld the acknowledgment that rightfully belongs to the original creators.

Why didn't you raise your voice about this before?

There were several reasons behind our silence. Firstly, at that time, our exam results had not been published yet, and we were concerned that speaking up could have a negative impact on our academic and future career prospects. Secondly, we needed a recommendation letter from him for our future higher education, making it challenging to confront the issue directly.

Additionally, during that period, our university and department were gaining significant recognition in Bangladesh for our work on Pipilika. We were determined not to tarnish that reputation by making claims or engaging in any kind of controversy. Despite facing discrimination during 2011-2013, we refrained from speaking out extensively.

Nevertheless, we did confide in some elder brothers within our department about the persecutions we endured under the imperious Ruhul Amin. These conversations were documented via email and have been carefully preserved as irrefutable evidence of our experiences.

So why are you speaking up about this matter now?

Initially, we thought it might have been an isolated incident or simply a misunderstanding. We were hesitant to engage in mudslinging, even though it was challenging to bear. However, as time passed, we noticed similar incidents unfolding, suggesting that his deceitful actions were not isolated but rather a recurring trait. We can empathize with the emotional pain someone may experience after pouring their heart and soul into their work, only to be deceived in such a way.

We were his first victims, and by remaining silent, we fear we may have inadvertently allowed him to perpetrate such malpractices repeatedly. Hence, we feel a moral responsibility to bring the truth of this deceitful incident to light and protect our juniors from the clutches of fraudulent Ruhul Amin Shajib.

What is the purpose of sharing this incident on the Internet?

In essence, our goal is to shed light on the truth and unveil impostors who pose as educators. Intellectual property fraud is unfortunately prevalent among hardworking individuals in Bangladesh and other countries. By sharing this incident, we aim to raise awareness and caution everyone about such fraudulent practices disguised under the guise of teaching in academia. Our sincere effort is to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.

Around 30-35 people were involved in working on the Search Engine before Pipilika received any award, and you were just a part of it.

Pipilika's journey began in January 2009 with only Burhan and Chisty at the helm. As we progressed in our research, we incorporated some other noteworthy research findings from the department into Pipilika. However, it is crucial to clarify that these research projects were distinct and not related to a Bengali search engine. Among these projects, Abu Naser Bhai's Bangla Spell Checker and Talha Bhai's Crawler from the 2004 batch deserve mention. While Pipilika had its separate crawler (which was further developed in 2017 to collect a decade's worth of Bengali news data and remains on GitHub), we opted to use Talha Bhai's crawler due to its superiority at that time. Additionally, we must acknowledge the contribution of Manas Da, Suhag Bhai, and Benjamin Bhai from the 2003 batch, who developed the Ekushey Finance Search Engine—an entirely different project focused on financial search, not Bengali search. Pipilika and Ekushey Finance were two separate projects with distinct features that were developed around the same time.

After the 2003 batch members moved on, at the request of Ruhul Amin Shajib, we worked on their search engine to fulfill our research needs and later incorporated its financial search features into Pipilika, our Bengali search engine. We made significant enhancements to this combined search engine, including:

1. Transitioning from Database-based indexing to Lucene-based indexing.
2. Introducing a completely novel Bangla Analyzer to Lucene, resolving issues with broken and joint Bengali alphabets in the process.
3. Implementing data collection (crawl) and storage on cluster computers using distributed systems.
4. Developing a generic parser to clean crawled data sourced from the internet.
5. Integrating other research findings, such as Abu Nasser Bhai's Bangla Spell Checker and Talha Bhai's Crawler, into Pipilika.
6. Enhancing the user interface, user experience, naming, and logo design to create a professional and premium appearance, a contribution that later played a pivotal role in attracting funding for Pipilika.

The individuals whose work we incorporated into our project before Pipilika receiving any awards were the inventors of the respective projects, such as Crawler, Bangla Spell Checker, and Ekushey Finance Search Engine. In contrast, Burhan and Chisty were the original inventors of the Pipilika Bengali search engine. Moreover, it is essential to highlight that the supervisor of these projects, Ruhul Amin Shajib, joined the faculty after the Pipilika project had already begun. Therefore, aside from the 5-6 individuals mentioned, no other person's work was integrated into Pipilika.

Ruhul Amin's claim of involving 30-35 people is nothing short of a lie. While the 5-6 esteemed senior brothers deserve recognition for their contributions to the Pipilika search engine, denying Burhan and Chisty— the original creators—after two years of unwavering dedication and falsely speaking of imaginary 25-30 others is nothing but a colossal deception. Such a baseless assertion merely serves as a despicable ploy by Ruhul Amin to take sole credit for Pipilika and obscure the truth of its creation.

The later project funded by Pipilika's GPIT investment is undoubtedly substantial, while our project served as a prototype or demo.

This assertion is utterly absurd. When constructing a large bridge, a small prototype is initially created to ensure feasibility and to conduct experiments. The significance of the prototype, where all innovations are explored, cannot be undermined, as it forms the basis for the main project. While our version may have been designed for a thousand users, the later project was envisioned for a million, but it is crucial to note that all the novel features were invented in our search engine. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "scaling" in the realm of software engineering. Undeniably, additional features may be added later, but it is vital to remember that Pipilika's funding was raised on the basis of showcasing our groundbreaking work. GPIT did not invest in Ruhul Amin Shajib's appearance or CGPA; they invested in our research by assessing projects, testing their potential, and envisioning future possibilities. Therefore, such a claim holds no merit and appears to be an attempt to superficially obfuscate the truth.

As for the absence of complaints from other students, why are we speaking up?

There could be several reasons why others have not lodged complaints. Some might not have realized the extent of what transpired, while others might have lacked the courage to speak out. Some may have merely focused on their exams and not delved deeper into the matter. Additionally, some students might have shown deference to their teacher out of genuine affection.

However, it is baseless to dismiss our claims merely because no one else has raised similar issues. Our allegations are entirely truthful, and we possess ample evidence to substantiate them. The unfortunate events that we endured were real and have left a lasting impact on us. We feel a moral obligation to unveil the truth and ensure that others are safeguarded from the clutches of fraudulent individuals like Ruhul Amin Shajib.

Why didn't you join Pipilika when they started offering paid work?

Before commencing the paid work at Pipilika, Ruhul Amin Shajib announced his intention to appoint two additional individuals as team leaders, with us serving as their deputies. Unfortunately, one of the candidates lacked adequate teamwork and communication skills, and we did not share a very amicable relationship with that candidate. Despite being aware of these concerns, Ruhul Amin Shajib unilaterally decided to appoint that person as our team leader. We voiced our objections in an effort to maintain a harmonious team environment, but our concerns were disregarded by the dictatorial Ruhul Amin. As a result, we became reluctant to directly engage in the Pipilika project.

However, Ruhul Amin could have kept us on as remote part-timers if he had desired to do so. Nonetheless, his intention behind appointing that particular person as our team leader was seemingly to deter us from joining the project altogether.

Subsequently, we discovered that Ruhul Amin had complained to Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and other teachers, falsely asserting that we were earning a substantial salary in Dhaka jobs and were driven by insatiable greed for money, making us uninterested in joining Pipilika for a comparatively lower remuneration.

Apart from Ruhul Amin, was any other teacher at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology involved in this fraud?

No, no other teacher was involved in this deception. We did not bring this matter to anyone's attention, and no other teachers were aware of the copyright fraud. While some teachers may have been involved in the project in different roles after GPIT's investment, they were not privy to the fraud and were not engaged in any wrongdoing. We hold no grievances against anyone else.

The project director of Pipilika was Muhammad Zafar Iqbal. Why didn't you complain to him?

Ruhul Amin's deception occurred before Muhammad Zafar Iqbal became the Project Director. Additionally, we raised our concerns about the lack of recognition to Ruhul Amin Shajib on Facebook Messenger (proof of which is still available). However, he promptly dismissed our grievances and claimed that everything was in order. As we saw him as a trustworthy elder brother, not just a teacher, his assurance that everything was right made us hesitant to discuss it with anyone else, regardless of how we felt. Moreover, the discomfort of vocalizing our frustration, especially when it involved claiming credit for our work, made us choose silence and not bring the matter to anyone else's attention.

Why didn't you publish any papers with Pipilika?

We had several opportunities to publish papers based on our work in Pipilika, but we made a conscious decision not to proceed with it. The primary reason for this choice was Ruhul Amin Shajib's unwavering insistence on being listed as the first author of our paper, coupled with his lack of cooperation when we expressed our disagreement. One day, he called us to a tea stall and proposed that, considering the substantial progress of Pipilika's work and our relatively lesser interest in pursuing higher education, he recommended putting his name first in the paper. However, we found this suggestion uncomfortable and contradictory to his previous encouragement throughout the two years of our work. He had repeatedly motivated us by promising that if our research was of high quality, our names would naturally take precedence in the paper. But now, after putting in our utmost effort to produce an excellent thesis, he suddenly demanded his name to be listed first.

Given our relatively lower CGPA, having a strong research paper with our names as primary authors could have significantly benefited our academic and professional career. Ruhul Amin Shajib had consistently urged us to work hard, assuring us that our efforts would be duly recognized in the paper. As a result, we confronted him to explain his change in stance. Unfortunately, he failed to provide any satisfactory explanation for his shift in position. Moreover, every time we submitted a paper to him thereafter, he would summarily dismiss it, claiming it was inadequate. This behavior effectively discouraged us from pursuing any paper publication with Pipilika.

Which paper was he trying to force himself to appear as the first author in? What evidence supports this claim?

Many students have come forward with claims that they willingly allowed Ruhul Amin to be listed as the first author in their papers out of affection or respect. While we acknowledge these instances, our focus remains on the specific incident that directly affected us. Prior to the clash at the internal alumni group in 2021, we found ourselves without any concrete evidence of Ruhul Amin's proposal to us during that pivotal meeting at a tea stall, where he unabashedly suggested being the first author.

During that time, his associates seized this opportunity to cast doubts upon our claims and subjected us to harassment. We were left feeling helpless and burdened by the lack of tangible proof to substantiate our words. How could we possibly document an oral conversation that took place years ago, especially when it concerned such a sensitive matter?

However, just when hope seemed fleeting, the boundless grace of the Creator shone upon us. Six months later, fate intervened, and we stumbled upon the crucial piece of evidence we needed. An email from a decade ago surfaced, providing an irrefutable record of the incident we so desperately sought to prove. This newfound evidence is now proudly presented in the "Evidence" section of this website, and it stands as a testament to the truth of our claims.