ONTARIO: Western University, the alma school of the Pakistani family members who were killed in a terrible hate assault in Canada last month, has announced the creation of two new scholarships in their honour.
Madiha Salman and Salman Afzaal were two of the four Pakistanis slain in a horrible event on June 6 in the Canadian city of Ontario, which shocked the country and the Muslim world.
The Madiha Salman Memorial Scholarship in Civil and Environmental Engineering is being organised by Western University.
Each year, a female student enrolled in a doctorate or master’s programme in civil and environmental engineering, with an emphasis on environmental engineering, will be awarded the fellowship.
Madiha had just finished her Master’s degree in civil engineering at Western University and was on her way to finishing her PhD when she was murdered by hatred. During a virtual graduation ceremony in June, the institution granted her a posthumous doctorate.
A full-time graduate student pursuing in a doctorate or master’s degree in health and rehabilitation sciences will be awarded the Salman Afzaal Memorial Scholarship in Physical Therapy, named after Madiha’s spouse.
Salman had earned his master’s degree from Western in 2010, while working as a physiotherapist in Canada.
The university said in a statement announcing the scholarship, “The prizes will help ensure people remember how Madiha Salman and her husband Salman Afzaal lived – as individuals who embraced inclusivity, cherished education, and built up their community.”
The scholarships have been supported by the relatives of the victims, according to Western University President Alan Shepard.
“We hope that these scholarships will assist in continuing their extremely great legacies at Western,” Shepard added.
