Portion of Wali-e-Swat’s palace donated to university

PESHAWAR: In an effort to promote higher education in the once troubled valley and to continue with the legacy of the forefathers, a portion of the palace of late Wali of Swat has been donated to the University of Swat to establish its departments till the construction of its permanent campus.
The portion donated to the university was being used by Member of the National Assembly Musarrat Ahmedzeb and her son, Miangul Umar Farooq.Constructed in 1913, the building was once the darbar hall of the palace where the founder of the state Miangul Shahzada Abdul Wadud and later his son Miangul Abdul Haq Jehanzeb used to hold jirgas.
“My son made me very proud today by donating half of his house to the University of Swat. They will establish a part of their campus in the building till construction of their permanent campus,” MNA Musarrat Ahmedzeb, widow of the youngest prince of the state Miangul Fazle Wadud Ahmedzeb, told The News.
She said her family had donated the same portion to the university in 2011 but the government later rented buildings for the institution. Now once again the princely family has given the portion to the University of Swat free of cost to enable the administration make alterations in the building as per their requirement.
Education in Swat suffered a lot during the last one decade after scores of the schools were bombed, people were tortured and parents were directed not to send their kids, especially girls, to school.
Malala Yousafzai, a daughter of Swat, won the Nobel Peace Prize when she started campaigning for the rights of education for girls. She was targetted by the militants, but she narrowly escaped death.
“When I asked my son as to what he will do after donating the house, he told me that he will remain the same even person if he had to live on the road but the people of Swat need to get higher education at all costs,” the MNA elected on reserved seat of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf told The News.
She later developed differences with the party leadership on the issue of quitting assembly.A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the registrar of the University of Swat Mahboobur Rahman and Miangul Umar Farooq on November 30. Under the MoU, any party can terminate the deal on the basis of six month written notice.
“The University of Swat will use the building for imparting education and training to its students and will not use it for any other purpose without permission from the first party. The varsity will take care of the building and can make alteration if required,” said the MoU. “I guess Allah has blessed my son to carry the legacy of his elders. The founder of Swat Miangul Shahzada Abdul Wadud Badshah Sahib had the same thirst for education,” said Musarrat Ahmedzeb.
She recalled that Badshah Sahib founded the first school of Swat, Wadudia School in 1922. “He himself passed the 8th grade examination at the age of 75. He was a great supporter of education and the same is now being done by Umar Farooq,” said Musarrat Ahmedzeb.
Umar Farooq was only five year old when his father Miangul Ahmedzeb died in 1986 at the age of 41.Musarrat Ahmadzeb also supported education of the children, especially girls. She also opened handicraft schools for local girls.