University of Malakand is a higher education institution, established in 2001 which is located at Chakdara

Chakdara

Chakdara is a town in Lower Dir District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located north of Malakand on the north bank of the Swat River, in a commanding position near the entrance to Swat District and at the entrance to Lower Dir...

 in the Dir district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. It is located on the bank of the river Swat.
The university is ranked at No. 21 in general category of HEC rankings.

History and background

The need for a University in Malakand Division

Malakand Division

Malakand Division was an administrative division of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, until the reforms of 2000 abolished the third tier of government....

 has been a felt since 1972, but due to political polarizations between different political parties, the idea could not be materialized until 2001.

The present site for establishing a university was proposed by the Ex. Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Mr. Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah. Prof: Dr. Lutfullah Kakakhel former advisor to Governor, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is the key person in establishing of this institution.

After the announcement some legal points were raised by the provincial law department regarding establishing a university in the PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Area) under Article 247 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a very old impediment in opening a University in the area since 1973.

The issue was resolved by the Honorable Governor by referring the case to the President to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who permitted the university through a Presidential order/ Regulation. Hence, in a sense this is the only university in Pakistan chartered/ established by the highest seats of power in the country, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The provincial Government, through a Gazette Notification No P-III dated 27 October 2001 (Extra Ordinary) formally announced a University for Malakand District

Malakand District

Malakand District is a district of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.The District was formed in 1970 as a Provincially Administered Tribal Area, It had previously been a Tribal Area known as the Malakand Protected Area, part of the Malakand Agency...

 on the premises of the defunct D.F.I.C at Chakdara

Chakdara

Chakdara is a town in Lower Dir District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located north of Malakand on the north bank of the Swat River, in a commanding position near the entrance to Swat District and at the entrance to Lower Dir...

.

Vice Chancellors

1. Prof. Dr. Jehandar Shah (Founder Vice Chancellor, From: August, 2001 till September, 2007 )

2. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (From: September, 2007 till 15 April 2008) Caretaker

3. Prof. Dr. Rasul Jan

Rasul Jan

Dr. Prof Muhammad Rasul Jan is a leading scientist and scholar in the field of Analytical chemistry from Pakistan, especially renowned for his research in the various areas relating to Analytical chemistry. Rasul Jan is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malakand...

(From: 16 April 2008 till ....Serving)

Convocations

The Convocations for the Bachelor of Science (Hons) and Bachelors of Arts (Hons) are held on the following dates.

• 1. Session (2001–2005), Date 10th Feb, 2007
• 2. Session (2002–2006),
• 3. Session (2003–2007),
• 4. Session (2004–2008),
• 5. Session (2005–2009),
• 6. Session (2006–2010),

Currently, Masters of Science and Masters of Arts programs are also going on but no convocation has been held for them.

Departments

• 1.Department of Computer Science/IT
• 2.Department of Bio-Technology
• 3.Department of Chemistry
• 4.Department of Education
• 5.Department of English Literature & Linguistics
• 6.Department of Botany
• 7.Depatrment of Economics
• 8.Department of Mathematics
• 9.Department of Management Sciences
• 10.Department of Sociology
• 11.Department of Pharmacy
• 12.Department of Physics

Terrorist attack

On 18 March 2009 around 1:30 a.m. a group of terrorists tried to enter the university and take vehicles. The security guard tried to stop them, meanwhile a police squad which was on routine round in the area, heard some shots and came on the spot. The terrorists fired a rocket on the police vehicle. As a result three policemen including one Assistant Sub-Inspector and the security guard of the university (Mr. Khaliq Dad) were martyred. The terrorists stole two vehicles from the university and left the two they used to come to the university. Later on Taliban claimed that they captured a group of fourteen people near Shamozai. Initially the told they would handover them to the authorities but because of the bad situation in the whole Malakand division nothing actually happened to investigate the incident.

Bank and Post Office

There is a branch of National Bank of Pakistan and a Post Office in the university. Currently, there is no ATM installed in the university which is a problem for the students, staff members and specially for the visitors to the university.