Malakand Woes: Reopening of Swat Museum urged

The antiques and sculpture of Swat Museum have attracted foreign and domestic tourists and it is an identity of Swat.


May 21, 2011

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has been urged by residents of Malakand Division to take cogent measures for reopening of historical Swat Museum to bolster tourism and cultural activities in the militancy-hit valley. President of Swat Art and Culture Association Usman Owais Yar demanded of the government to direct the Archaeology and Museum Department to take necessary measures for reopening of Swat Museum, terming it “imperative for promotion of art, culture and Ghandhara civilization”. The antiques and sculpture of Swat Museum had attracted foreign and domestic tourists and it is an identity of Swat, he said. Tourism season has started in Swat and reopening of the museum would go a long way to discourage militancy and terrorism, besides promoting a soft image of Swat, he added. Regretting over long closure of the historical museum, Yar said the invaluable and priceless statutes and antiques of Ghandara era, which were shifted from Swat Museum to Taxila Museum due to unrest should be returned.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2011.

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